You know those prospects who just "yes" you to do, then tell you they need a few days to think about it? The ones that give you buying signs the entire way through your mutual exploration and then... they just go dark?
They're the worst. They waste your time. They waste their time. They waste their company's time. They waste their team members' time! Of course, I would never recommend that you position a breakup as, "Hey, you're wasting my time. Let's just call this off." If you do, you run the risk of burning a bridge and making sure that person NEVER recommends you or refers you in the future.
So, the question is, "How do I break up with a prospect?" ... WITHOUT burning bridges?
Here are four tried and true and examples that my team and I have used over the years:
How to Break Up with Your Prospect: 4 Free Email Template Examples
Template #1: The "Priority Focused" Break Up
SUBJECT LINE: [Contact Name] - My Last Attempt Unless You Want to Reconnect
BODY:
[CONTACT NAME] - I've reached out to you a few times recently to reconnect and I haven't heard back from you. I understand that you're busy, so if exploring a partnership with [YOUR COMPANY] isn't a priority, please let me know so I can stop bothering you. However, when we spoke last, you mentioned a few key areas that you were looking to improve:
1. [VALUE PROP #1]
2. [VALUE PROP #2]
3. [VALUE PROP #3, etc]
Are these still priorities for you? If I don't hear back from you within the next day, I'll assume this isn't the right time to continue our conversations and that something changed since we last spoke.
Best,
[YOUR NAME]
Template #2: The "Assuming You Don't Need/Want Help" Break Up
SUBJECT LINE: [Contact Name] - Assuming you don't need help with anything
BODY:
[CONTACT NAME] - I've reached out several times to you and have not heard back. Based on working with executives like yourself, what I've learned about your business, and the ways in which your team has interacted with our company's website, you seemed like the type of company that can get value from [INSERT YOUR COMPANY'S VALUE PROP/ COMPANY HERE].
I don't believe I've received a response from you. And I don't think any of your team members have reached out to me sepately either.
So, at this point, I'll assume that you don't need our help with anything.
My contact information is below if anything changes for you.
Regards,
[YOUR NAME]
Template #3: The "Account Closed" Break Up
SUBJECT LINE: [PROSPECT COMPANY NAME] | Account Closed
BODY:
[CONTACT NAME] - I was going through my to-do list and I was wondering what happened with the engagement we discussed in the past months.
On [DATE #1] we had a great initial conversation. You expressed your challenges and the urgency of the situation. You mentioned that you had to do this now to be able to achieve your goals next year.
On [DATE #2] we had another meeting and went through [OUR SOLUTION TO YOUR CHALLENGE/ PRODUCT/ SERVICE] with you. We left that conversation with the action item to [INSERT WHAT THE LAST ACTION ITEM WAS].
It's been [HOWEVER MUCH TIME HAS PASSED; e.g. - "a month and a half since then"], so I'm assuming this isn't a priority anymore.
I know that you are really busy but I'm a little surprised. I thought this was more of a priority for you.
So at this point after not hearing back from you after repeated emails and messages, I'll close things out on my end. My apologies for the misunderstanding and good luck.
All the best,
[YOUR NAME]
Template #4: The "9-1-1" Break Up
SUBJECT LINE: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
BODY:
Hi [CONTACT NAME], per my message today -
I've tried to reach you a few times but haven't heard back from you and that tells me one of three things:
1) You're all set and have no interest in working together to [grow your business, save money, reduce risk, etc], and if that's the case please let me know so can I stop bothering you.
2) You're still interested but haven't had the time to get back to me yet.
3) You've fallen and can't get up and in that case please let me know and I'll call 9-1-1 for you...
Please let me know which one it is because I'm starting to worry...
Best,
[YOUR NAME]
Or Maybe We Should Ask a Different Question... Is Email Prospecting Just Dead?
This is exactly what I'll be writing about in my next post, focused on actionable, real-life tactics for social selling and expanding your lead funnel.
