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“What do I do with a prospect who went cold two years ago and I still think they’re a fit?”
Stacy’s first reaction?
Two freaking years?!
Said with peace and love, of course. She’s not laughing at the person asking, but she does have a few questions about how we got here.
Like, Why do you still think they're a fit? And more importantly, do they agree with that notion?
In this Story Snack, Stacy gets into what to do when a prospect has gone cold, why you might need to rethink how you’re nurturing prospects in the first place, and the framework she teaches clients to help them get a solid yes or no sooner (so they aren't chasing lukewarm prospects for years).
Listen in to hear:
How often Stacy thinks a cold prospect should actually hear from you
How to tell whether the reasons they liked you two years ago still matter today
The problem with letting a “maybe” sit in your funnel for too long
What “fill or kill” means and why Stacy uses it when a deal goes co
This is Story Snacks, a bite-sized series for fund managers who want to get better at strategic storytelling in under 20 minutes a week.
TRANSCRIPT
Below is an AI-generated transcript and therefore it may contain errors.
[00:00:00] Stacy Havener: Craving more knowledge, but don't always have time to sit down for a five-course meal? Take a quick snack break with Story Snacks, bite-sized content to feed your funnel. Each short episode features Stacey digging into one question. This series has her talking stories, sales, and so much more. Oh, yeah.
[00:00:20] It's time for Story Snacks
[00:00:26] What do I do with a prospect who went cold two years ago and I still think they're a fit? Okay, don't interpret my-- I'm not laughing at the person who asked this question, so let me just like, this question does make me laugh and I'm going to explain why. Very valid question. But it makes me laugh because two freaking years and we're just getting to this prospect now?
[00:00:57] Like, where have we been? Did we fall down and we couldn't [00:01:00] get up? Like, how has this prospect been sitting on the funnel for two years and we're trying to figure out what to do two years later? So the first thing I really want you to hear, said with peace and love, all jokes aside, is two-year gaps is no kind of nurture strategy.
[00:01:18] Way too long, okay? So if they've gone cold two years ago, like we're starting over. There is no like, "Now what are we doing?" It's like we gotta start over. I mean, you can acknowledge the fact that you met them two years ago and hopefully a lot has changed and perhaps they'd like to have a coffee, but I mean, you're really starting this deal over at that point.
[00:01:38] So this is my issue number one with the question is like, we should never have let it get to two years, and I'm gonna come back to that in a second because there's also an issue number two, also said with peace and love. You think they are a fit, that is less relevant than they think they are a fit. So the back half of the question [00:02:00] is a little off to me.
[00:02:02] I guess clarifying questions that I would have would be why do you think they're a fit? And then the second question would be, do they think you're a fit for them, right? Do they think they're a fit for you and you're a fit for them? That's really what matters. And so I guess without the ability to ask this person those questions, I would say if we go back in this deal and look at, hopefully we've taken great notes.
[00:02:30] Again, if you use our way of doing things, you've taken great notes in these meetings. If we go back and look at what are the clues that are telling us that they might be a good fit and that they also agree, the fact that it's been two years is just like really throwing me for a loop. Like it's just sort of breaking my heart.
[00:02:49] Um, then we'd have to go back to those touchstones and determine, okay, are the things that they liked about us as a solution to a [00:03:00] problem, are they still there and perhaps have they gotten even more compelling? And I'm presuming by virtue of the fact that two years have gone by, that there were things they did not like, that were not a fit for them at the two year ago point when we met, that have we sorted those out?
[00:03:19] So generally speaking, a nurture campaign, a nurture strategy should be at least quarterly if it's someone That has maybe said something like, "Keep me posted", which was another question we've dealt with recently on the podcast, or someone that's just gone cold, quarterly is a, is a good time to reach out.
[00:03:42] Until you have a no, I mean, listen, yes is the first best answer. No is the second best. Maybe is purgatory. We don't wanna be there. And so we have to go for the no, because we, we wanna move [00:04:00] on. So we have a framework that we teach clients called fill or kill, obviously near and dear to everyone who's ever placed a trades heart, because that is a type of trade that you can place.
[00:04:11] We have a template that we use that is a fill or kill email, which is designed to go for the no. If someone has gone cold, it's not just this email template, we have a whole framework that we walk you through, a certain cadence of phone calls, voicemails, and emails, um, done in a certain way such that you increase the probability of getting a response.
[00:04:35] And so we do that if a deal has gone cold for a quarter. Like, if they have not responded to us in a quarter or two max, we are probably gonna send a fill or kill. And for sure, on an annual basis, we're gonna fill or kill that funnel. So lot more frequency. I mean, I'm not talking [00:05:00] about like, you know, pinging them every day, but two years is way too long, and regardless of whether you think they're a good fit for you, the more important question is, do they agree?
[00:05:13] And if so, why? And on the flip side, where were the sticking points that they didn't move forward two years prior? We have a lot of work to do on this one. I hope that helps. Let's be real. No one wakes up and says, "I can't wait to build some operational infrastructure today." You're here to manage money, to build something that lights you up, not chase down reports across five systems and 15 service providers.
[00:05:42] That's where Ultimus Fund Solutions comes in. They're your ops dream team, consolidating all your middle and back office chaos into one clean, scalable setup. Registered funds, private funds, SMAs, all integrated. [00:06:00] One team, one tech platform, one rock solid source of data. But here's the real differentiator: service.
[00:06:09] I know that fund in a box sounds convenient. It's also a box. Know what you can't put in a box? A human who picks up the phone when you call and need help Real-life people who know your name and your fund, and they care about getting it right. Ultimus was built on people doing business with people. You get institutional strength combined with boutique-level service without getting stuck in a phone tree of doom.
[00:06:37] If you're ready to simplify, scale, and start working with a team that feels like an extension of yours, check out billiondollarbackstory.com/ultimus. That's U-L-T-I-M-U-S. You've got the investment strategy, the vision, the track record. Now it's time to upgrade the engine [00:07:00] behind it all with Ultimus. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.
[00:07:09] The information is not an offer, solicitation, or recommendation of any of the funds, services, or products, or to adopt any investment strategy. Investment values may fluctuate, and past performance is not a guide to future performance. All opinions expressed by guests on the show are solely their own opinion and do not necessarily reflect those at their firm.
[00:07:28] Managers' appearance on the show does not constitute an endorsement by Stacy Havener or Havener Capital Partners
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