👋 Welcome to Dialed-In

Your Monday bolt of sales energy. 

Each week, we’ll share one deal-winning idea to help you dial in your sales motion and scale faster. 

🏈 I threw a Hail Mary to churned leads. Here's what happened. 

Last month, I asked our Head of Sales for a list of the coldest leads we have—churned trials. 

These are leads who signed up for a free trial of Close, tried it, and didn’t buy. Most hadn’t been contacted in a year or more. They're what some might call total losses.

But I believe that a loss only becomes a total loss if you don’t leave the experience with something. 

So I:

➡️ Dug up the graves of these cold, dead leads to run an experiment: How could I get their attention to re-engage them? 🤔

➡️ Decided that asking them why they churned would be a good start. Even if I couldn’t get them to try Close again, I could at least leave with something: Insights. 

I sent this email:

Subject: 1, 2, or 3? I can take it.

Hi [Name],

You tried Close a while back, but didn’t stick around. Totally cool. I’m just curious what kept you from choosing Close as your CRM.

Was it:

1. You liked Close, but it was too expensive.

2. You liked Close, but it was missing a key feature you needed.

3. You HATED Close. Our CRM offended you on a deeply personal level.

Reply with a quick 1, 2, or 3 so we can understand where Close missed the mark. 🎯

P.S. I'm also happy to show you what’s changed in Close since you last tried it.

To my surprise, I got a few different kinds of replies. 

1. They chose a big competitor.

One person replied saying he chose our biggest competitor over us.

He said he wanted to hire an operations person to manage their CRM and he felt more candidates have experience using our competitor. 

I could have left the conversation at that, but I hit him with a follow-up question: How are you liking them? 

He gave his answer, along with more details. “It has a few weird nuances,” etc. 

I thanked him for his time and invited him to reach out if he’s ever interested in trying Close again. 

But I learned useful insights that could inform how I talk about Close in the future.

Plus, the email gave him the opportunity to assess his buying decision and share his honest feedback with me.  

✅ Something Gained: How to handle an objection. I should emphasize that Close is easier to use than our competitor so you shouldn’t be so worried about hiring someone with a specific CRM's admin experience. 

2. They’re planning on choosing a competitor. 

One person replied that he’s about to sign with a competitor, but what I heard was: This deal isn’t dead just yet. 

I followed up with: Can I ask why you’re choosing them? 

He replied: Because they're a lower price. 

Boom—now I’m having a back-and-forth conversation with an active buyer. 

Since he tried Close, we introduced new pricing options—including a lower price point. 

I sent him our updated pricing, along with a rundown on all the new AI features we’ve added to our CRM since his trial expired. 

✅ Something Gained: The opportunity to overcome a pricing objection with an engaged buyer still in the consideration stage.

3. They loved the product, but it wasn’t their call.

My favorite reply was: 

Thanks - I had a great experience. We went with [Competitor] due to a licensing decision made by the CEO. Loved Close.

Aww shucks. She loved us. 🥰

I replied with my sincere appreciation and an invitation to reach out if they’re ever in the mood for a change. 

✅ Something Gained: Even in those lost-cause moments, your interactions with people can leave a lasting impression and a positive brand imprint. That person probably won’t work at that company forever, and maybe she’ll have more influence in her next role and remember us. 

⚡️ Get Dialed-In

Steal my email template and send it to your coldest leads. 

What’s the worst that could happen? They ignore you? Babe, they’re already doing that. 

All you need is a few people to engage with you. Each reply led me to a new question and each new question uncovered new knowledge gaps.  

Some people really do want to help by giving you their honest insights, but lack the opportunity to do so. 

Give them that opportunity while also cementing a positive relationship because, hey, at least that’s something.

And something is better than nothing. 

Cheers,

PO Box 7775 #69574
San Francisco, California 94120-7775

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