One phrase you’ll hear from me if you hang around long enough is “the wheel turns.”

In a recent post, I talked about how deals you thought were stone-cold dead sometimes lurch back to life when you least expect it. Maybe writing that piece manifested the next round of surprises — who knows. The universe has a sense of humor.

I’m always preaching the gospel of keeping a detailed CRM and an honest-to-goodness deal funnel. But the thing about a deal funnel is this: it’s almost never a straight shot from introduction to closing. It’s great when it is, but more often than not you’re looking at four or more touches before anything actually happens.

And if it takes more than four touches?

Well, salespeople generally do one of two things: they persist, or they give up.
I like to think I fall into the “persist” camp more often than not — but let’s be real, everyone gives up eventually.

I hate closing the book on a potential deal. Sometimes I will, and I’ll mark a CRM entry as “this just isn’t happening.” But more often I’ll simply deprioritize it: fewer check-ins, stretching things out to monthly, then semi-monthly, then semi-annual. A slow fade rather than a hard stop.

Then, for whatever reason, this past month a bunch of long-dormant leads woke up. People who had never once responded suddenly reached out with variations on:
“Hey Lee, we’re ready. I’m building a PO — can you send over whatever paperwork we need to set up an account?”

That’s always nice.

It reminded me of something the trainer at A&B Sound told me when I first started out: “Customers buy when they’re ready.” There were a bunch of caveats attached to that, but that was the part that stuck.

So when people I haven’t heard from in six months — or longer — suddenly decide today is the day to spend money with me, I’m going to roll out the red carpet.

Most of the returning leads didn’t come with a dramatic backstory. But one did.

I’d built what I thought was a good rapport with a particular prospect. Then they went completely silent. No replies, no returned calls.
Odd, but it happens.

They’d even placed a small order early on — a little “house account” situation because they weren’t ready to go all-in with a full account yet.

Then out of the blue, someone going through their inbox called me back.

That’s when I learned the business owner I’d been talking to had passed away eighteen months ago. His son had taken over the company and had been busy picking up the pieces. In that context, the fact that he reached out at all is something I genuinely appreciate.

The wheel turns. Sometimes slower than you expect, sometimes in ways you never see coming. But it always turns.