“What happened to that white-hot prospect?”

Every business owner and salesperson has asked this question. You had their attention and mobile number. They had a need; your product or service practically sold itself. You had rapport, and then …

Silence. 

You replay the conversations in your mind and retrace your steps from your notes. Did you miss something?

Perhaps. But maybe it’s not what you think you missed.

Maybe what your prospect took was a break—some time away from a business pace and information intake that is increasingly head-spinning and demands an increasingly rapid response.

A business owner I know unplugs once a month, reserving a day to think through all of his pending business decisions and related information. Many executives can’t or don’t schedule intentional “think time,” and they temporarily escape by postponing decisions. Your prospect’s balancing-act response to an overload of information, decision-making and the need for speed? Slow, the new fast.

Before the next hot prospect turns into a whiff of smoke, consider your prospect’s capacity for information, rapid change and rapid response. Integrate the following questions into your interactions with them:

• What are you getting from me that you find most helpful?
• What am I doing that is not helpful to you?
• What could I be doing to be more helpful? How does that help?

Information overload affects all business professionals and their activities, including you and your prospects. Think through your sales cycle and build in time for your prospect to gain perspective on their future use of your product or service. It’s one of the routes to yes in slow, the new fast.