If you've been selling for a while, you've probably had at least one experience in which your prospect suddenly started giving you the "silent treatment."

Anthony described this dilemma very moving when he called me a few weeks ago:

If do not know what to do when I hit the silent treatment "- you know, when I worked with a prospect of a good time, and we had great conversations, and 'have expressed interest in our solution - and then suddenly everything stops.

I try to call back once or twice. I even send an e-mail tracking, but nothing. They just disappear. And I imagine that has lost the sale, and do not know what I did wrong or what to do next. This makes selling feel like a painful and difficult process. "

If this has happened, it is possible that he felt anxious and confused. You may have yourself said, "It's not like I'm the one who did something wrong. I put everything in the relationship. How I can rescue the sale if I can do to talk to me?"

The "Hopeium" Trap

There is a pressure-free way to reestablish communication when your prospect will begin to give the "silent treatment." But first, it is important to understand why things happened in the first place.

Most of us who sell get caught in "hopeium" a comical term that means we focus our hopes and desires to make the sale. But hopeium can be a trap, because it is impossible to take into account the most important goal: to learn the truth from your perspective.

When we set our minds on the results - making the sale - automatically starts the process of anticipating how it will go, and also begin to expect things to happen as we hope they will.

But if we're in that mindset and our prospect suddenly breaks communication, we feel lost, anxious, frustrated, discouraged and confused. We care about what went wrong.

You may even feel betrayed.

Is there any way to solve the mystery?

Yes, by giving up its program and learn the truth about where you stand with your prospect - and you can with what the truth may be. "But how I can get the truth when they are avoiding me?" you may ask. "Why do I have to set aside the sale?"

Take the second question first.

If you approach your prospect, while still hoping that the sale will happen, that I will put sales pressure on the relationship. This will make your prospect away from you and destroy any trust they have developed with them. Instead, you can eliminate sales pressure by telling them that you disagree with their decision if they decide not to proceed.

In other words, take a step back instead of trying to pursue and follow up with calls because it focuses on getting a "yes."

The conclusion is:

When a prospect that gives the "silent treatment" does not mean you've lost the sale. It simply means that you do not know the truth yet.

What you need to do is call and learn the truth.

Why is learning the truth is so important?

Here are four reasons:

1. You stop losing confidence in their ability to sell. The "silent treatment" threatens our "hopeium." We begin to blame ourselves. We do not know where we are - a painful state of limbo. Our inner dialogue is negative and full of guilt, and we are on tenterhooks wondering if the sales still come through somehow.

2. To increase the efficiency of your sales and reduce your stress level. Once you learn the truth about the status of your potential customer, may be involved with the prospect or move on. I often say, "A 'no' is almost as valuable as a 'yes'." Why? Because it frees your time to find potential customers that best fits your solution. This lets you work more efficiently as it can quickly eliminate the prospect that they will not buy. Knowing the truth of perspective lets you walk away without whispered voice full of guilt"If you give up, you do not have what it takes."

Learning your prospect is translated into real tangible results that equal real dollars. It also ended the tension of self-sabotage that comes from living in "silent treatment" limbo.

3. Sales pressure pushes prospects away. When you respond to the "silent treatment" with calls and emails, you are really saying that you are determined to advance the sales process - which means we're looking out for your needs, not theirs. This makes them mistrust you and run the other way.

4. The "silent treatment" - total breakdown in communication - is how prospects protect themselves from sales pressure when they feel comfortable telling us the truth. The more press, more than execution.

But the opposite is true, too. The more we relax and invite the truth, the easier it will be with us. Outlook feels good to share what is happening to them when they know we're good to listen.

How to Reopen Communication

After Anthony and I had talked about some of these issues, said: "All this makes perfect sense, but I'm not sure what to say when I make that call."

It's easier than you think.

* First, simply give your prospect a call. (E-mail and voice mail is very impersonal, so use only as a last resort, if you can not reach your prospect after several phone calls.)

* Second, take responsibility and apologize for having caused the "silent treatment."

Here is language that suggests to Antonio that will make prospects feel safe enough to open up and tell the truth about your situation:

"Hello, Jim, is Anthony. I wanted, first, to call and apologize that ended up not being able to connect. I feel like somewhere along the way maybe I dropped the ball, or do not give you information I needed. I'm not calling to get things moving because I'm assuming you've probably gone ahead with someone else, and it is perfectly normal. I'm just checking to see if you have any information on where I can improve for next time. "

When you respond to the "silent treatment" this way, the results will probably surprise you. You may even know that the prospect has legitimate reasons for not having gotten back to you.

You'll also find more productive and less frustrated. Will make a world of difference in their level of productivity, stress level, income, and how much you enjoy what you're doing.

Remember ...

He has not lost the sale. Just do not know the truth yet.