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Introductory Appointments: Your Goal is Meeting Number Two
Introduction
Original article: Introductory Appointments, Your Goal is Meeting Number Two
Strategies
Which of the following is a good sales outcome for introductory appointments?
- Proposal: The prospect let you pitch him for 30 minutes, told you to send a proposal and CC his director, who handles these types of projects.
- 2nd Meeting: The prospect discussed her business issues with you, you asked good questions, you shared some anecdotal stories about how some of your clients have similar issues, and she asked for a second meeting.
I know a ton of salespeople that would put the first outcome in the success category. You got a pipeline opportunity, right? A proposal? WRONG! You got a brushoff, a more sophisticated variation of saying "send me a datasheet." He was just letting you down easy. What he really said was, "Here's enough hope to keep you busy for a week or two and then you can go away." You may have pitched them, but did they hear anything? Was any of it relevant or bring value to them? The second scenario is far more successful. The next stage in the sales cycle has started. She shared her real issues with you. You shared some value. She wants to continue the conversation. That's how prospects buy today. Make the goal of introductory appointments threefold:
- Show professionalism and value by having a conversation and asking questions
- Educate the prospect just enough to get a second meeting
- Make the second meeting follow your agenda and then satisfy theirs
It's all about the second meeting.
Conclusion
Similar research on Appointment Setting, and B2B Demand Generation can be found on our B2B Blog: Smashmouth Sales & Marketing
Michael Damphousse is the CEO/CMO of Green Leads.
http://www.green-leads.com/
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3 Comments
A second meeting is just a continuance, not a success story. If you didn't progress the sale at all, it's not a result just another trip back to the clients office.
When I sold to large corporates, the goal was to sell, not to meet them, and occasionally you can even land sizeable accounts on first meeting - it's rare, but it does happen.
I won a multi-million pound account over the phone, with one call once, the guy had dealt with the same vendor for 5 years had, had enough, knew us by reputation and decided to chuck his business at us, rather than spend ages going through a long drawn out replacement review, which would have ended up with one of 4 or 5 similar firms anyway.
I don't believe that salespeople should "always be closing" not unless they want their customers to hate them. But I do believe that without demonstrating a clear progression of agenda, then a second meeting can often be as big a waste of time as the first one...
I like to think of introductory meetings or calls as an opportunity for me to interview a potential prospect. I'm going to take charge and ask the prospect questions to see if they fit the profile of a prospect for me. If not, then I can save them and myself lots of wasted time by suggesting that they are probably not a fit for my company.
If they do fit my sweet spot, then having gone through all the qualification, I can proceed toward the demonstration, proposal or close, depending on what and how I sell, as quickly and aggressively as is appropriate for that prospect and their decision making process.
People buy from people they know and trust. The key is and always has been establishing credibility (i.e. your product, company or service can do the job) and trust (i.e. we will be there after the sale). None of that happens on the first call with a new client.
In the kind of complex sale we are usually invloved with, there is always more than one influencer, which means establishing credibility and trust with each one is critical. While only one person - the final decision maker - can say "Yes," there may be dozens up and down the org chart who can, and will, say no if they have no confidence in your product, company or services and especially if they do not trust the sales representative or the other people in his or her organization.
As you may suspect, I believe that any first call that ends as described is a failure and the probability of a sale in that account is just slightly more than zero. I teach my sales reps that any initial sales call that ends with the customer requesting "more information" or "a proposal" or "a brochure" are just polite ways for the customer to get the sales rep out of his office.
Why? Look at it like this: How do you create "a proposal" when you have no idea what they need or why they need it? What "more information" could possibly be needed ? They have no idea how your product or service might benefit their operation. What could possibly be in "a brochure" that will convince the customer to buy your product?
No, the objective of any first call has to be a second call where the sales representative can begin exploring, with the customer and all the influencers, exactly what they are trying to accomplish and why it is important to them. Only then can the sales rep formulate a plan that meets and exceeds there expectations.
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