When a Sales Prospect Goes Dark: What to Do

The Bad News: Sales Prospect Goes Dark
No returned calls, no email replies — your sales prospect has gone silent. It’s frustrating, especially after productive initial conversations and a client who seemed genuinely interested. The real question is: Is the deal truly lost, or is there a way to reignite the opportunity?

Do you throw in the towel, bombard the client with follow-ups, or take a step back to understand what caused the silence and craft a targeted strategy to re-engage them?

The Research – How Much Should You Follow Up When a Sales Prospect Goes Dark?

When a sales prospect goes dark, it helps to look at the data. Our microlearning experts first point to research by Velocify, analyzing 3.5 million leads across 400 companies, reveals that six follow-up calls are optimal — these six touches reached 93 percent of eventual buyers. Yet most sales reps give up after just one or two attempts, leaving 13 percent of buyers completely unheard from. The study also uncovered additional insights that highlight the power of persistence:

• Same-day follow-up produced the best results
• If not the same day, the next best time periods were 5, 14, and 15 days later
• Follow-up emails helped, but more than 5 made clients less likely to buy

So the first rule of thumb is to follow-up at least five times.

The Good News
In sales, it’s never truly over until the deal is closed — or definitively lost. Right now, your focus should be on crafting a targeted strategy that uncovers the information you need to make a clear, informed decision about whether to move forward with this prospect.

The Steps to Take When Prospects Go Dark
Here’s what you need to do to figure out how to handle this qualified sales opportunity going forward:

1. Reevaluate Your Performance
   Step back and review your role in the sales opportunity with complete objectivity.  Consider what consultative selling best practices dictate: consistently create value in every sales interaction, respect the client’s time and perspective, guide them thoughtfully through the buying process, address sales objections effectively, and clearly outline the next steps toward agreement.
   
   Where did you fall short? Were there early warning signs you overlooked, or crucial steps in the process that could have made a difference?
   
   
2. Review Client Stakeholders
   Revisit the stakeholders you initially mapped in the buying process. Are you fully aware of their motivations? Did your sales call plan effectively engage each of them, or did you overlook an influential decision-maker?
   
   Reconnect with your internal advocate to see if new participants have entered the process and explore how you can motivate them to reengage with you.
   
   
3. Reassess the Sales Opportunity
   Take a fresh look at every interaction with the prospect and identify what has changed since you first developed your sales plan. Consider factors highlighted in our sales management training: leadership changes, unexpected competitors, or shifts in business priorities.
   
   How do these developments impact the relevance and viability of your proposed solution?
   
   
4. Reach Out Persuasively
   Having invested time in nurturing this opportunity, you should now have a clear sense of what information could resonate with your prospect. Collaborate with your team to review the situation — fresh perspectives often reveal new ways to add value.  When you reach out, avoid pushing the sale.
   
   Focus on delivering insights and solutions that demonstrate you prioritize your prospect’s needs, not just your own agenda.
   
   
5. Request a Decision
   When an opportunity remains stalled, business sales training experts say it’s appropriate to ask your prospect directly about their intentions — aim for a clear “go” or “no-go” decision. If it becomes evident that the sale is unlikely, redirect your energy to higher-potential opportunities and minimize lost time and resources.

The Bottom Line
Every sale has its ups and downs, with stops, starts, and unexpected twists along the way. The most successful sales reps persevere by regularly reviewing each opportunity and adjusting their approach as circumstances change. Are you staying attuned to shifts within your prospect’s organization so you can respond strategically and stay aligned with their evolving priorities?

To learn more about what sales reps should do when a sales prospect goes dark, download 3 Critical Sales Warning Signs at Your Strategic Accounts

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.