B2B customer is not answering our calls. What to do next?

Agree with above but quick story that's somewhat related. Many years ago I was working with a business partner. For a few days they weren't responding to my emails or returning my phone calls. I was getting really pissed and ready to read them the riot act since we were paying them money for something that they were late on. For some reason when we finally spoke I held back. Fortunately. Turns out they were in Florida (I had no idea) and had suffered severe damage from a hurricane to their offices plus some of the employee's homes. Since then I have had similar "disappearing" situations that turned out to be death in the family, vacations, travel, major project focus, budget planning/realignment, events...all variety of things.

So you never know. Could be the customers just aren't interested. Or something else. But be persistent because you need to try and find out why their interest waned if it did. There is a respectful balance on how often you call. Hopefully eventually the person will pick up the phone or return the call just to stop you from bugging them. And hopefully with that discussion you'll be able to get what you need. Are they still a prospect? How can you move the selling forward with an actionable step? Or are they not interested and if not, why not?

best,

Hire an actual salesperson?

Seriously, rejection is part of the game, and it takes a special personality to deal with it. If the other guy isn't calling you back, it may be that he's lost interest. But it's not that simple... The next task is to find out why he lost interest. I am not a sales guy, but I read this blog: http://blogs.bnet.com/salesmachine/. It's got very good tips, including some on how to handle situations such as yours. Good luck on closing your leads, it's tough.

EDIT: In reading my reply above, I think I come off sounding like "I read this blog, therefore I know about sales." I intended to say that I read that blog and I learn a lot from it, but I am still quite ignorant about sales. The way I wrote it sounds kind of smug, so my apologies.

I never went to business school. But I did telemarketing for 3 years when I was a young struggling musician. It taught me everything about sales.

Here are my tips.

1. It's a numbers game.

2. Practice your sales speech again and again and again. Until you know it by heart. I can still say mine and it's 15 years ago now.

3. Always offer them something better, cheaper, longer lasting etc. than your competitors. It doesn't have to by much. This will give you a great reason to call them. I know it sounds cheesy but it works

4. After a while start adjusting your speech. You will be surprised how even small changes in your speech can influence how far you get.

5. Make a list of all those that showed interest and keep those. Then call them back once you have something new to tell them.

6. Always be closing or make an agreement with them in the call. That is your only window of opportunity to move forward.

7. Almost forgot. never lie. Always tell the truth no matter what. Find ways to make your weakness your strength but never ever never lie

In general if your potential customer base is not bigger than 1000 people I would consider spending my time and money in some other way. It obviously depends on what kind of product you are selling but at least keep in mind that it works because it's a numbers game not because it's a great way of selling to the individual.

It's pure bruteforce. Although after a while it's less brute.

Keep calling. Don't be too pushy and ring his phone right off the hook, but you should definitely try a couple times a week. There might be some outside circumstance you do not know about keeping them away from the phone.As gmagana said, even if the lead doesn't progress, at least you can ask him for some input on that first sales call...

I think when dealing with sales, emailing leads presents a some difficulties. It is a lot easier for people to avoid emails then it is for people to avoid phone calls. There are a myriad of excuses that can be thought up for why "that" email never got through.

When you are calling on small and medium size businesses, try calling earlier in the morning or later in the evening. You are more likely to talk to the owner or managing partner. Then, assuming you have polished your pitch, like ThomPete points out, you can go right for the ultimate decision maker.

Despite the initial interest shown, your target customer is still too cold to take action. You need to continue nurturing the relationship.

Business dynamics change, often in very little time. A budget that might have been available last week might not be available today. A hot lead, therefore, can turn very cold very quickly.

Aside from striking while the iron is hot (yes, you should have set the appointment), it's very important to track the conditions and reasons for a prospect's decisions in meeting or not with you. This way you will be able to respond appropriately to these sudden changes.

First, Continue searching for other prospects, do not concentrate on those whom you probably already lost. You should be able and ready accept rejections like these. Second, to make your call productive, try to compose it in a way to be curious for your prospect. He'll answer your call, if you arise his curiosity. Third, try to compose your call or e mail in a way of questions, ask him, asking is the way to understanding the desires and needs of your prospect. Because he is not actually interested in what you propose, but what you can do for him. Best