I’m sorry, Mr. XXX passed away…
This is a true story that happened onsite with a SaaS company called Reeher (they have an amazing platform for higher education fundraising). We were making live calls with a group of 6, so I have witnesses.Today we called into a large University to learn that the EVP of Development died on Sunday. The assistant said, “Oh, I’m sorry that Mr. XXX passed suddenly this past weekend.” The person making the call looked at me to say, “What do I do now?” In a moment of unintentional irony, I swiped my hand across my throat to end the call. Perhaps I was being unconsciously insensitive, who knows. Out of respect to the deceased, we promptly ended our prospecting call. After all, even though we’re salespeople we’re still human, right?
The moment of shock gave way to a question amongst the group. We ask you now, “How long should you wait after a person passes away to re-prospect their replacement?” Almost every client salesperson I’ve worked with has had a prospect die on them. If you are in sales long enough one of your prospects is going to pass away. So what next? Would love to see your thoughts.
Posted by on 04/21 at 09:03 AM
