Thursday Sep 2

... if you want an appointment

 

Do you ever find that you cold call a prospect, have a great phone conversation ... and that's as far as it ever gets. Furthermore, all you actually wanted from the call was an appointment.

There is a moral in the story.

The more you cover in a phone conversation the less there will be to cover in a meeting - rendering the meeting pointless. If it is important to get in front of your prospect to pitch effectively - ask for an appointment, and justify the request. Don't deviate. The more you try to talk your way into an appointment the more likely you are to talk yourself out of it. It is, of course, important to differentiate between the phone calls you make to ask for an appointment and those that you make to gather information (qualifying calls). Don't inadvertently allow a qualifying call to turn into a sales pitch.

My tip is this - if it is important to pitch your business face to face, ask for the opportunity to do so. Don't settle for a phone conversation.