cavanova

AE selling Construction Software

prospects replying "not interested"

i've been taking a more targeted approach since i'm now selling into enterprise companies and after crafting very well thought out emails, a number of prospects are replying with something akin to:

"Its not something that we would be looking at but interesting all the same."

how do you respond to this?

i've kept the emails short and succinct while referencing how their competitors are solving some very expensive problems that the whole industry is facing, but for some reason prospects aren't interested.

i'd be keen to hear people's thoughts, cheers.

👑 Sales Strategy

💌 Cold Emailing

🔍 Discovery

13 comments

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funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

That's them being polite but telling you to kick rocks.

"Not interested" is not a real objection. It's most prospect's go to for getting salespeople to leave them alone. "Not interested" can mean you're not talking to the right person, they have no need for your product, they don't have a budget, they're attached to their current provider, bad timing, your approach is bad...the list goes on. You need to dig into "not interested," to get the real objection so you can handle it. This is tough to do via email, you need to get them on the phone.

I'm blunt about it and will say something like "To be honest, it's rare that someone isn't interested in (value prop,) is this just a bad time of the year? When would be a better time for us to chat about this?" This way, you'll get some more information or a hard no. If they hit you with another "not interested," you're dealing with a wet noodle and need to find another person to talk to or leave them alone for a while.

softwaresails

Politicker

Sales Manager

I agree. Just saying "not interested" isn't a real objection.

These follow up questions are gold and tend to work most of the time!

BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

I think this is where calling wins over emails because you can pry out information over the phone whereas via email they can easily ignore or drop the not interested bit.

With that being said, I encounter this line a lot but I'm in a different vertical.

I appeal to their curiosity, well what's interesting about it? What would drive you to look at something like this?

Also, enterprise takes a long, long time from outreach to implementation so I leverage that. If this is interesting to you, often times the process takes a while and then it can sneak up on you so it's better to be ahead of the game. Something like that to assure them you are familiar with their process, and it positions you as looking out for their interests.

Hope that helps somewhat.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Give them a reason to want to look into your product. What pain can you solve?

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Put a dollar amount to whatever they’re losing by not solving this issue with your solution. Ask if that figure would be interesting.

Do.it.for.the.checks

Politicker

Account Executive

Id be curious what you are leading with. Not interested usually signals you are leading with features or possibly solutions.

Lead with problems instead. "The VPs I work with are struggling to hire bodies and this creates extra strain on your internal resources. I noticed a few open reqs on your website.

Am I correct that you are you in a similar boat?"

Note I sell software that automates tasks i.e. instead of hire automate.

No one can be not interested in their pain. If they admit the pain, you can then discuss your solution.

cavanova

Opinionated

AE selling Construction Software

thanks, im going to steal your opener "The VPs I work with are struggling to ..."

newsalesguy14

Politicker

Account Executive

This answer is aligned with what others have said.

I like to say something along the lines of:

"Thanks for letting me know, prospect. Is it just bad timing on my end, or is there a different reason? I don't want to unnecessarily follow up if there isn't a good fit."

This 1) gets them to uncover the real objection (if they respond), and 2) communicates that they'll be hearing more from you later unless they give you a valid reason :)

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

Via email exchange, your best not responding, letting it simmer and attacking other buyers/influencers. In 3-4 weeks, re-approach the same buyer with different messaging, a bit more direct and speaking to their pain.

thesecretsauce

Politicker

Business Development

I hate more “take us off your list”

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

Especially when they aren’t on a list which is always comical to reply to!

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

Generally I ask if they aren’t interested as they don’t see it fitting well for them or if it isn’t something currently on their road map’ Both questions lead into more and unless you get the scary ‘unsubscribe’ you’ll at least get more of a convo

sellingsellssold

Politicker

SDR

That is the most common response I get, keep trying and don't let it discourage you

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cavanova

prospects replying "not interested"

13 comments

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