May27
Always, Always, Always. Never, Never, Never.
I waited three months to meet with this prospect. His company was a perfect match for the services I provide, and he agreed. We exchanged emails, left each other voice mails, and missed each other’s visits for 12 straight weeks.
That happens sometimes.
But finally we got a appointment on the calendar, and the meeting went great. He was almost ready to get started, and I walked away high on the thrill of soon to be closed business.
When I got back to my office and began to enter notes from the call into PipelineDeals, I realized, in my excitement, that I hadn’t scheduled a follow-up appointment to nail down the details of the deal. And—guess what—it was another 12 weeks of email/voice exchanges and missed visits before we did: an unnecessary three month delay in business I should have had within a week or two.
Always, always, always use the energy of a first appointment to schedule a next appointment within 5-10 business days. Even if you’re just checking in, you’ll accelerate the buying cycle significantly.
Never, never, never walk out of a sales appointment (unless you have a definitive no) without another appointment with that person on your calendar.
This is not just in your best interest, it’s in the best interest of your prospect. Who wants to waste all that time answering email and voicemail when in less than 60 seconds you can have a meeting set right then and there?
What if they won’t schedule a next appointment with you? They’re telling you something (with their actions not their words). By gently pressing this point, you will help a prospect voice their concerns and leave the land of maybe, which I refer to in this blog post as the real enemy of sales success.
