A few months ago, I opened my new company in India. Naturally, one of the first things I needed was a corporate bank account. Once the company was incorporated, I had a flood of emails, calls, and messages from banks offering their services. It felt great to have choices. I shortlisted 3.... A, B, and C. In this post I am sharing about A.
Bank A was the one I was most interested in. They are big, and have 2 branches near my India residence.
They promised the fastest and easiest process through an online form. Perfect, right? So I filled it out, and was greeted with a submission message"The branch will reach out to you in 24 hours" ... 24 hours passed by.... nothing. No call. Just silence.
Then, the next day, I got an SMS saying, “We tried calling you but couldn’t reach you. If you receive a call from this landline number, please pick up.” But here’s the thing—I hadn’t missed any calls, no voicemails, nothing. Still, I gave it a chance. I called the number back, only to be greeted by a recorded message with no options to talk to a real person.
This same SMS came through three more times over the next 3 days, but no actual calls. Just this loop of non-communication.
Prospecting is an art. It’s not just about sending a message or collecting data. It’s about timing and follow-up. It’s about making people feel like you’re genuinely interested in working with them, not just ticking off a box on your list.
Here are a few things I learned (and what companies can take away from this):
Follow-Up Matters More Than the Initial Contact: It’s great to reach out, but if you don’t follow through properly, it creates doubt and frustration. A lead isn’t a lead unless they feel like you care.
Data Without Action is Pointless: You can have all the contact details in the world, but if you’re not using them to engage at the right time, it’s wasted. You can’t expect prospects to wait around for you.
Keep it Personal, Keep it Human: Automated systems are great until they’re not. If someone shows interest, they don’t want to feel like just another number in the system. They want personal attention.
Here’s what organizations should do to avoid this:
Respect the Clock: If you say you’ll call back in 24 hours, call in 24 hours. Simple as that.
Test Your Systems Regularly: If your SMS or automated follow-up isn’t working properly, you could be losing potential clients without even knowing it.
Give Options, Not Frustrations: Make sure there’s always a way for prospects to reach a human being. A recorded message with no path to resolution? That’s how trust is broken.
I’m curious—have you ever experienced something like this?
#b2b #leadgeneration #leadconversion #prospectingfails #lostsales #salestraining #b2bSales #MarketingandSales
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