You’re making prospecting calls one day and come across a firm that is closing. Oh, well, you think to yourself, there are many more firms to call. And you dial up the next one.
Did it ever occur to you to continue the conversation, if even briefly? Did you ever consider the possibility that you could do some prospecting despite the firm’s misfortune?
You can, though for obvious reasons these are not high-value calls. The point is that you should take advantage of every opportunity to speak with business people. Even those in transition mode will land somewhere. You just never know what may become of those few moments on the phone.
This happened to me recently, and here is how I handled it.