This content was created by Peter Winick. This content was uploaded by Peter Winick. This is a YouTube video titled "Following Up with a Potential Buyer" (posted 2019-09-15). The excerpt is a conversational advice segment between SPEAKER A (someone facing issues with outreach from publications/websites) and Peter Winick. SPEAKER A describes prospects who express interest then go silent; Peter Winick advises on prompt, timely follow-up, probing who the decision-makers are and the approval/funding process, and giving prospects a graceful way to decline or schedule future contact to avoid ghosting.
Chapters
I think something I struggle with is I get interest from like publications or websites, little things, and then they just fall off, right? Like I follow up, I do the due diligence, like it's to the point like we're setting up calls and we have things going and they disappear. And I'm like, cool, what do I do with this? And it's— I can also read out the— this is not me pursuing them, this is like them reaching out to me, and then for whatever reason it just goes away. And I'm not sure how to like pursue them.
So aggressive or Sure. So assuming that the follow-up is real, and I'm not saying you're not doing it, but sometimes people say, oh, I follow up. What does that mean? Well, every 3rd Tuesday of every other month I respond to emails. Follow-up means like, bam, timely manner. Like you just left a gig, on the plane ride home you got the stack of cards of the people that loved you. They're not going to fall deeper in love in 3 weeks, right? So now is now. But to your point, many decisions are made by groups, by committees, whatever. And there is this energy that happens after a keynote. Somebody's like, oh, we're going to do the sun, the moon, the stars, and the And then we'll live happily ever after. Give them the app. You know, so you got to find out like who else is nobody? We hate the decision maker work, but nobody's going to say I'm not the decision maker. So ask who's involved in making this decision? How does this get funded? How does this happen? What is the process? Is it a cycle? And then if you have a couple of good calls and it starts to go cold, give them the opportunity to shut you down. Listen, apparently this isn't going anywhere. I don't want to harp on you. You know, like so. Should we just part friends now, or would it be better if I reached out in 6 months, or whatever the case is? It's sort of this ghosting thing that happens.
