Are You “Begging” for Sales Appointments? No Wonder they Cancel (if they do invite you in)
Ok, begging may be a strong word. There’s no crying in baseball & there’s no begging in sales. But YOU ALL know what we mean when we say begging – especially for sales appointments.
These would fall into the “Begging Bucket” when it comes to sales appointments:
- I’ll be in your area . . . can I come by & introduce myself?
- I’m your new salesperson & I’d like to come by & meet you, ok?
- Any chance I can come by & see you so you can put a face with a name?
- You do business with our company & I’d like to come by & thank you . . .
- We have (insert a product they likely don’t want) & it would be great for you . . . can I stop by & show you?
- It’s been a while since we have done a capabilities presentation. What day would be best for you?
- Can I come & see you & show you what you are missing out on?
- Many companies in your area have (insert product again) & I thought I’d come by & show it to you . . .
What do these 8 items have in common? Every one of them is about the SALESPERSON, not the PROSPECT. Self-serving to say the least. Not that important to them. Very important to you.
The lesson here: If you ever find yourself going to an appointment & it’s more important to you than it is to your prospect, perhaps you shouldn’t go.
That goes for more than just appointments. How about this lesson? Have you ever wanted to close a deal more than your prospect wanted to buy from you? How does that feel? Same feeling.
It’s no different than dating.
Remember dating? Were you ever like this guy I know? We’ll call him Dave. If Dave really wanted to go out on a date with someone what did Dave do? Dave asked her. Asked her again. Dave called her. Called her again. Dave would have texted her. More texts. Dave used to be called a “door mat.” A door mat is always there. Waiting. Just there. Getting stepped on. Collecting dirt. Adding no value. No excitement. No energy.
Don’t be a Dave!
Instead of begging your way into appointments do your best to be invited in. Key word: INVITED.
People that invite you to their place of business treat you differently than if you invite yourself (or beg your way in). After all, how do you treat people that you invite to your home or place of business?
Try these on for size:
- Sounds interesting . . . what if you invite me in so we can continue our conversation?
- That makes sense. We have been hearing similar things. Wonder if you’d invite me in & I can tell you what I have been hearing.
- You are not alone out there. If you invite me in, we can discuss what others have been experiencing & what you may be able to do about it.
- It might not feel so great, but you are right where you should be at this point. If you invite me in, we can discuss ways to get you back on track.
It’s 2024. Social calls are outdated in sales. Prospects don’t have time to meet with salespeople unless there’s a good reason. So, give ‘em one.
