The minimum acceptable outcome of any sales meeting is to get closer to winning a sale. Sure, eventually we want to close the sale but in B2B sales, it’s rare if ever when we close a major sale on the first call. Yet so many sales people go into that first meeting with a stack of PowerPoints that includes every piece of data and clever quips to get the customer to say yes in that one meeting. The mistaken belief is that customers make decisions based on product and service information alone. Not true.
Whether your first meeting comes from a cold-call, or a referral, the goal of the first sales meeting is to earn the second sales meeting.
- You want to create enough interest and respect to get an invitation to come back.
- You want to leave the right VISABILITY and earn enough CREDABILITY to get that next meeting.
- The customer ends the meeting wanting and needing to know more.
- They believe you have the right knowledge and experience.
- This is the minimum acceptable goal of any sales call but particularly the first.
In reality, there is little difference between referral selling and cold calling, when it comes to how you conduct that first sales meeting.
Referrals – Many sales people and leaders feel that referrals are the only way to success. A CEO recently said to me that reference selling is “the only way to sell.” Referrals are certainly a benefit and if you earn them yourself through great execution, even better.
Let’s explore what a referral is. At the simplest level, a referral is an introduction accompanied with positive statements about you, your company and your product. It’s a suggestion by a customer, business acquaintance or friend, for someone who doesn’t know you to agree to a meeting with you. At best, the person is introducing you because they feel you can help their friend or associate. Often, the person is simply asking a friend for a favor. All that referral gets you is the first meeting. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very valuable step but it’s just the first meeting.
Again, success in that first meeting is all about generating enough interest and trust to earn the second meeting. Being seen in the right way, by the right people, at the right time, (VISABILITY) combined with the right balance of listening and educating (CREDABILITY), is the way to earn that second meeting.
Cold Calls – This is simply the act of convincing someone who doesn’t know you, to offer his/her valuable time to learn about you, your company and your offering. It’s simply a different path to that first meeting. The art of cold calling is a subject in and of itself but in my experience being able to create interest in 30 seconds or less is the key to a successful cold-call. Within 30 seconds, you want the customer to ask for more information. Once they’ve asked you go from the annoying person on the phone to someone engaged in a conversation.
At the end of this cold calling path is the first meeting where you have to generate enough interest and trust to earn the second meeting. Therefore, whether you get time with the customer based on a referral or a cold-call, the goal of the meeting is the same. Earn the second meeting.
Starting that first meeting with this simple mind-set will get you more second meetings and more wins.
©2014 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities®, LLC
