How To Overcome Pipeline or Prospect Fatigue?

In this blog, I will cover one of the biggest unknowns in Sales Development: dealing with prospect fatigue. Not many are speaking about it.

I will draw insights from my conversation with Srba, a seasoned Sales Leader at Deckrobot, who’s faced this challenge head-on. So, grab your coffee, because it’s a million-dollar question we’re going to tackle.

For those who love videos. Here you go

If you like reading then, let’s understand prospect fatigue in detail and the strategies used by Srba and his team to overcome it

So let’s start with the million-dollar question that not many are talking about today

What is Pipeline or Prospect fatigue?

Pipeline or prospect fatigue, aka “lead fatigue” or “sales fatigue,” are terms rarely used in sales. Its used to describe a situation where prospects get disengaged, frustrated or unresponsive due to being overwhelmed by the volume and intensity of follow-ups from a business or salesperson.

How to overcome the prospect fatigue challenge?

Srba has some valuable insights that you can use.

Get More Curious

First off, Srba emphasizes the need to get creative when dealing with prospect fatigue. Sticking to the same outbound strategies day in and day out might not give you the best results. He stresses the importance of curiosity over being right – you don’t need to have all the answers, but you do need to be open to trying out new strategies.

Track Account Activity Based on Channels

Srba is aware that not all communication channels are created equal, and not all accounts respond the same way. He states that some accounts might be highly receptive to your outreach efforts, while others may seem unresponsive. Here’s where your creativity comes into play. You need to be open-minded and ready to adjust your strategy based on the specific needs of each account.

Prospects from one account could be highly active on Linkedin and would engage there, but might not respond to your emails. But for another account, it could be the opposite.

Track this behavior and analyze if it is industry or persona-specific. Then accordingly segment your prospects

Find the Right Balance

You don’t want to come across as a spammer or a desperate salesperson trying to make his commissions. To avoid this, Srba suggests finding the right balance within your outreach cadence.

Timing is important. Consider calling within the first half-hour if you notice a prospect repeatedly opening your emails but not responding. Real-time follow-ups can be highly effective when a prospect actively engages with your content.

However, Srba advises against continuously bombarding prospects across all channels. This can backfire. You may also be marked as spam. Remember, you want your messages to be relevant and personalized.

Treat High-Engaging Prospects Differently

To mitigate prospect fatigue risk, Srba recommends identifying and segmenting high-engaging prospects. These are prospects who consistently open your emails, accept LinkedIn connection requests, and show a genuine interest in your product. Treat them differently, as they’ve shown a higher level of engagement.

In practice, Srba and his team move these high-engaging prospects to a high-intent sequence. This sequence is tailored for those who are showing a strong interest in DeckRobot. 

Quality Over Quantity

Remember, it’s not about the number of prospects you reach, but about the quality of the connections you make. Focus on building meaningful relationships. 

Request your prospects for feedback. What kind of content they’d prefer? The frequency they want to hear from you. The rework on your approach.

To sum it up, managing prospect fatigue is a delicate balancing act. You don’t want to be overly persistent and risk being seen as a spammy salesperson. No sales rep wants that. Instead, approach each prospect with curiosity and a willingness to adjust your strategy based on their behavior. 

By identifying and nurturing high-engaging prospects, you can hit those sales quotas without causing fatigue

If you have any more recommendations on mitigating prospect fatigue then write to me at [email protected] and I will include them in this blog.

Not many are speaking about this topic so share this be the first one in your network to talk about it.