Successful meetings. I love when they happen. But then prospects go dark—stop responding to emails and voicemails. It makes no sense. Because when good meetings end prospects are enthusiastic. They show interest in meeting again… to go deeper into your solution to their challenge.

But suddenly, and without reason, silence. No heartbeat. No response.

Now what?!

“If you’re a parent, you already use an effective (email follow-up) technique instinctively,” says Chris Voss, a renowned former FBI kidnapping negotiator and business negotiation expert. 

“What do you do … when your kids won’t leave the house/park/mall? You say, ‘Fine. I’m leaving,’ and you begin to walk away. I’m going to guess that well over half the time they yell, ‘No, wait!’ and run to catch up. No one likes to be abandoned.”

Mr. Voss says starting to walk away may seem like a rude way to address someone in business. But you have to get over that. Indeed, it’s not rude. Ignoring you is what’s rude.

Bottom line: This works. It even works across international business cultures. Because the tactic is cloaked with the safety of “no.”

Yes’ is commitment. ‘No’ is protection. Think about it when designing your “gone dark” (unresponsive client) follow-up email tactic.

You may be thinking… “hu?” Hear me out. At first I didn’t get it either.

“There is no shortage of times during the day when someone is trying to trap us with ‘yes,’ says Mr. Voss.

He’s right. Most often, sales people send emails—or have discussions—that “sprinkle a small trail of ‘yes’ to lead us down the path to the big bear trap of ‘YES’,” says Voss.

We try to persuade, convince. Think about it in your life, as a buyer of goods or services.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Voss says there are 3 kinds of ‘yes.’

1. Commitment (“I will”)
2. Confirmation (“I heard you”)
3. Counterfeit

Most of your clients are becoming experts at giving the counterfeit “yes” … as a reply to the bear trap “YES” lurking around the corner.

This is what makes “no” so powerful. “Yes” is commitment. “No” is protection.

When prospects say “no” they are:

1. Protecting themselves
2. Avoiding feeling vulnerable to you
3. Demonstrating power, control… and, thus, are more open to listening

Pretty cool right?

Wait a minute. Provoke no? This sounds crazy. Why would you do that?!

Because it works. And because few sellers practice this follow-up tactic when clients go dark. Here is one example of how to use it. There are many.

“Have you given up on this project?”

Stop. Don’t cut-and-paste the above sentence—and hit send.

I know you’re tempted to. But don’t. Instead, consider why this works. Allow yourself the chance to use the mental trigger more effectively, more creatively.

Create your own provocation based on the concept. Don’t cut-and-paste the sentence above. It may or may not work as well as a (better) idea you can quickly develop. Once you have a provocation test and measure its effectiveness.

Results will vary. But you will see results. Trust me.

Here’s why this works: Provoking “no” plays to prospects’ natural aversion to experience loss.

The question, “Have you given up?” encourages the client to respond with “no” because it makes the implicit threat you may walk away, on your own terms. If your prospect does not want to lose you they will stop it from happening. They’ll reply with something like:

“No, our priorities haven’t changed. We’ve just gotten bogged down with ________ …”

Prospects will explain why they have not responded to you. That’s the gold.

Here’s another mental trigger… why this works. Potential buyers will take pleasure in proving their power over you… they will hit reply and disagree.

That’s the beauty of this technique. If you don’t receive a reply you likely have an unmotivated prospect. Cut bait and move on!

Look—you can keep reading these tips I’m sending OR you can start DO-ING. Knowledge is worthless—without action. Take action.

None of this is easy. But with the right people involved (helping you) it feels effortless. Fun. Enjoyable. We are the right people. Myself, Jed Fleming and a small group of colleagues. Join us in the upcoming workshop. 

Email prospecting isn’t about getting more yeses… or more meetings. It’s about getting yeses and meetings from prospects who are ready to give them!

What do you think? Let’s chat about this (and your experiences) in comments below!