“I am working a large deal and the prospect won’t meet with me again, I have tried the ‘I am in your area’. What is your recommendation?” Corky
Corky, as usual, I have some questions: are you local or do you have to get on a plane? How many times have you been on-site? How did your last on-site meeting go? When is the prospect making a decision? Is this a government opportunity? Is your contact a decision maker or influencer? Are you winning the deal (I would assume no)?
My first comment, as strategic sales people, we want to provide value to our prospects and clients in addition to the show up and throw up on our products and services. If your last meeting was not valuable from the prospects perspective, why would they would want to meet you again, if you are simply in the area?
To get your meeting, I would put yourself in your prospects shoes. If I know I am not going to buy a product from a vendor, I do not want to meet with them again, most buyers do not like to deliver bad news and would rather avoid you. What value can you provide outside of giving the prospect more data on your product? Do you have information that can help you prospect better perform their job or give them data to help them with their boss or team? If yes, can you do the like the evening news and offer a teaser to get the meeting, “Mr. prospect, I just got some really interesting data on national averages of widgets, are you available next Tuesday for a focused meeting to review the results?” Another way to leverage your client base, “Mr. Prospect, I met with our client Acme Company last week and they are doing some really innovative employee retention initiatives, are you available next week to learn more?”
If you have told your prospect everything about your product and you do not have anything new, then the sales lesson is to put together a sales strategy where you give your prospects information overtime versus all at once. Save some literature or client case studies for future meetings.
If you still cannot get the meeting and you decide you are losing, you and your sales could manager strategize on withdrawing from the selection process if they will not meet with you? “Mr. Prospect, at Acme Company we value our client relationships and one way we do this is by meeting with our clients both pre and post sale, if you cannot meet with me in the next two weeks, we are going to withdraw our proposal, we value relationships that much?” If they accept your offer to withdraw, move on to better prospects.
Assuming you get the meeting, do your homework. Go into the meeting with new information, provide value to your prospects, and ask the tough questions on where you stand in the sales process.
Corky, Good selling getting on-site and let us know when you get the meeting and how it goes! Reader Feedback, please click the comments below to give 'additional information on 'Appointments’ and I want your feedback on my response. Shaun P
Corky, as usual, I have some questions: are you local or do you have to get on a plane? How many times have you been on-site? How did your last on-site meeting go? When is the prospect making a decision? Is this a government opportunity? Is your contact a decision maker or influencer? Are you winning the deal (I would assume no)?
My first comment, as strategic sales people, we want to provide value to our prospects and clients in addition to the show up and throw up on our products and services. If your last meeting was not valuable from the prospects perspective, why would they would want to meet you again, if you are simply in the area?
To get your meeting, I would put yourself in your prospects shoes. If I know I am not going to buy a product from a vendor, I do not want to meet with them again, most buyers do not like to deliver bad news and would rather avoid you. What value can you provide outside of giving the prospect more data on your product? Do you have information that can help you prospect better perform their job or give them data to help them with their boss or team? If yes, can you do the like the evening news and offer a teaser to get the meeting, “Mr. prospect, I just got some really interesting data on national averages of widgets, are you available next Tuesday for a focused meeting to review the results?” Another way to leverage your client base, “Mr. Prospect, I met with our client Acme Company last week and they are doing some really innovative employee retention initiatives, are you available next week to learn more?”
If you have told your prospect everything about your product and you do not have anything new, then the sales lesson is to put together a sales strategy where you give your prospects information overtime versus all at once. Save some literature or client case studies for future meetings.
If you still cannot get the meeting and you decide you are losing, you and your sales could manager strategize on withdrawing from the selection process if they will not meet with you? “Mr. Prospect, at Acme Company we value our client relationships and one way we do this is by meeting with our clients both pre and post sale, if you cannot meet with me in the next two weeks, we are going to withdraw our proposal, we value relationships that much?” If they accept your offer to withdraw, move on to better prospects.
Assuming you get the meeting, do your homework. Go into the meeting with new information, provide value to your prospects, and ask the tough questions on where you stand in the sales process.
Corky, Good selling getting on-site and let us know when you get the meeting and how it goes! Reader Feedback, please click the comments below to give 'additional information on 'Appointments’ and I want your feedback on my response. Shaun P
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