How to get the best from Cold meetings

Many sales people think that if they get a meeting with their target prospects they will close one sale out of every two meetings with the prospects. They think they can impress the prospects when they go in front of them.

In reality it is not the case.

Let us consider the following scenarios:
1) You make cold calls from the list available to you; fix up a meeting and go to meet the client.

2) Someone gives you the contact details and sets a meeting for you. The “someone” can be either your manager, outside vendor or your friend working in the prospect’s Company.

You just assume that it will be a good prospect and you will definitely close the sale. You go for the meeting with full confidence and return with disappointment.

In the first scenario, you called up the so called prospect first. They did not call you first. They neither know you nor have they heard of you beforehand. There is no sure need for your product/service. You called them, requested for a meeting and you got the appointment.

In the second scenario, someone arranged the meeting for you. You go for the meeting and when it did not go well, you blame the “someone”.

There is one thing common in both the cases – “waste of time”

The sales people have the power to convert cold meetings to successful sales meetings, but they have to do some homework.

6 points to remember before going for a cold meeting:

Target the right profile – Know the person before you talk to him/her. Is he/she the right person to decide?, what is his/her buying/influencing power?, Is he/she in charge of a particular region or for entire company locations? What kind of budget do they have? Etc.

Be specific to talk to the person. If the person sitting across from you is the right profile, you have a chance of success, else nothing can help you from wasting time.

If you get an incoming lead, then try to reach to the right person through the contact you have.

Know your Prospect – Find out as much as you can about your prospect like their company, industry, needs, focus, etc. This gives you a better chance for success. They will be impressed to know that you have taken time to understand their business. You can get many details form their website and few by researching. There is no excuse to skip this.

Follow the Process – Many sales people go for the meeting with the only expectation to close the sale. Their confidence is appreciated but the expectation is high. If they do not get the sale, they think the prospect wasted their time.

In the first meeting try to build trust and confidence, eventually your prospect will feel comfortable to further discuss with you. If it happens in the first meeting…great, but more likely the outcome of the first meeting will be an initial connection and a scheduled next conversation.

Offer a Value – Do not wait to offer a value to your prospect till you start working with him/her. Offer value during the sales process to show them what it will be like to do business with you. The offer can be a quick assessment of the problem, Discuss on the industry issues and what others in the field are doing to cope with his problems?

Ask yourself before you go for the meeting as to: "Why is meeting with me going to be worthwhile?"

You can ask a series of questions and uncover a set of needs that you can solve. But if you do not create a rapport and make the prospect feel more comfortable or make them believe that you are the industry expert and can provide the solution they are looking for, and then they will look for a provider with whom they feel more 'comfortable'.

If you create that rapport and miss to identify the need, then you may get a friend but not a customer. Creating the rapport and identifying the need are equally important in the cold meetings.

After Meeting – You had your meeting with the prospect. What next?
A proposal?, A summary email? Or a discussion letter? And in any of these you write your understanding of their problem/situation, their needs, how you can help, suggestions and where to get started.

Whatever you do, clearly express what you believe to be a helpful next step. Make the prospect agree on it, fix up a time and deliver whatever promised.

Follow-up - Business development is of long process. If you feel the prospect is a good target, stay in his/her mind by keeping in touch. Send the discussion letter, articles, case studies, news letters, whitepaper, etc. It creates a positive impression on you and your firm.

As the name suggests the cold meeting are really cold as they might take many months. You can make it hot by doing a proper planning and following a process.

In you first cold meeting: Try to Influence but do not try to control.