Tactics – Getting to 1st Base (Appointments)

Last night my wife and I attended “The Drowsy Chaperone”, a musical comedy from which I can provide a strong lesson for salespeople. The show starts off with the “man in the chair” saying something like, “I know, you hope the show will be good” and “you probably hope it doesn’t run too long” and “you hope it’s going to be funny”.

Here’s a real email thread. The names of the client and the prospect have been changed. I was the salesperson. I have reorganized the sequence so that you can start at the top and scroll down. I added my comments in red.

My team and I train and coach a lot of salespeople and sales managers. Lately, there is no mistaking the two most popular requests for help.

What do you think is the most frequently requested plea for help?

Without question, the most popular requests I receive each week are for help with making appointments and, specifically, creating positioning statements. For example, Pat and I traded about 6 emails over the past 10 days to get his positioning statements just right.

About two years ago I published this tip with the most effective way to leave a voice mail message and get it returned. Read the tip before proceeding.

There has been a lot written about how to get referrals. I covered that ground in a new way in Baseline Selling, But once you have the referral, or preferably, the introduction, what is the best way to approach your new prospect?