Beware of zombie buyers

What could be better than a customer who never demands anything?

It’s like having an annuity: The payments come in like clockwork, with no visible effort on your part. If you could just line up enough of them, you could sit on a beach all day, sipping a drink with a paper umbrella and counting your money.

Or not.

A study from the Wharton School of Business gave a name to customers like these: the Walking Dead. And like the zombies in the movies, they have no future.

The only reason they’re still buying is inertia.

If you’re hoping there’s a secret formula for reviving these dead-on-their-feet relationships, you’re out of luck. The study found that once a buyer becomes undead, there’s little chance of bringing them back to life. The minute they wake up and look around, they’re gone for good.

The only cure is prevention. Zombie buyers don’t start out that way. In the beginning, all of them decided they wanted to do business with you. What killed them was salesperson neglect.
Ask yourself right now: Do you have customers who might be on the road to zombiedom? If so, now is the time to breathe some life into them.