9 Tips for Getting More Sales Meetings with Prospects

Summary:

• Revise your pitch to immediately address a prospect's pain point, increasing the chance of a "yes."
• Utilize success stories to provide social proof and validate your solution's effectiveness.
• Engage in public speaking to establish expertise and expand your network within your industry.
• Publish quality content online to build your reputation and attract the right audience.
• Implement a multi-channel campaign, not just cold calling, to stay top-of-mind for prospects.
• Increase call attempts, showing persistence can often turn timing into opportunity.
• Extend event invitations to offer value and facilitate face-to-face engagements.
• Diversify prospecting efforts to ensure you're not relying on a single strategy for lead generation.
• Propose smaller commitments before asking for a meeting, building rapport and demonstrating value gradually.

It can be demoralizing to run out of good prospects to talk to.

The same is true for repeatedly asking prospects to a meeting only to hear "no thanks" time and time again.

If you're in that situation, there are plenty of ways to find more prospects to get in front of... and to get more sales meetings and less denials.

That's why today, we're going to give you nine tips that will help you get more sales meetings with prospects.

1. Change your script

If you're hearing "no" too often, the simplest explanation is that your messaging is to blame. Right off the bat, you've got to hit upon a pain point or hot button issue that your prospect is itching to solve. If your product solves their problem, there's little reason for them to say no to a meeting to learn how.

2. Have targeted success stories ready

This goes hand in hand with number one. Sometimes it's not enough for your prospect to simply have a problem your product can solve. They also have to believe that to be true, and be compelled enough to investigate.

Having case studies, testimonials, or statistics to support your solution is very helpful to getting that meeting. Have you helped a competitor of theirs? Does your average client achieve X or Y in the first month? Find the social proof you need to back up your claims and you're bound to hear "yes" more often.

3. Try Public Speaking

Public speaking at events related to your industry is a great way to build your network. And to earn referrals from people in your field.

Naturally, it also helps you build your reputation as an expert, which will make people respect you more and want to meet with you.

4. Publish High-Quality Content Online

Here's another great way to build your reputation and create a more magnetic persona.

It's also an opportunity to earn exposure. No matter what your field, people are looking for great content to turn to. When you create that content you're bound to get in front of the right people.

5. Don't Just Cold Call, Campaign

It’s great to pick up on the phone and dial a list of numbers. Cold calling is one of the best ways to get new sales meetings.

But don’t end your efforts at cold calling...

The salespeople who secure the most sales meetings are those who have planned out a thorough campaign through multiple avenues - not just phone calls.

Things like email, video, retargeting, white papers, etc. provide much-needed repetition that's often the difference between being forgotten and being top-of-mind.

6. Call More Times

Persistence is critical in sales. Oftentimes the reason salespeople have insufficient meetings is because they've giving up too quickly and too easily. Follow-up multiple times and you'll see just how often timing and repetition are the key to creating opportunity.

7. Send Invites to Events

One easy trick to get face-to-face time with prospects is to invite them to private events your company offers. This can have an educational component, like a seminar or webinar, or be purely entertainment-based.

People like being invited to and attending events, which is why this strategy works so well.

8. Diversify Your Prospecting Strategies

Even if one strategy is effective for you, don't get complacent.

For sustained success, you should have multiple prospecting and lead generation strategies you're using simultaneously. No single strategy will work on everyone, and no single avenue will reach everyone.

9. Get Your Foot in the Door

Sometimes the reason you hear "no" is because you've asked for your meeting too quickly. A meeting can feel like a big request if you haven't built up a rapport or shown enough value yet.

Think about smaller victories on the path to that meeting. Every industry is different, but there are likely all sorts of requests you can shoot for first. Opting-in to an email list, completing a survey, answering a question, taking a quiz, creating an account or listing, scheduling a phone call.

Figure out some small steps that help pave the way to more meetings.

Wrapping Up 9 Tips for Getting More Sales Meetings with Prospects…

Better exposure, and better prospecting technique are key to getting more meetings.  Here are nine tips to help you do both...

1. Improve your script to reduce rejection
2. Have social proof ready so your pitch is more credible
3. Start giving speeches at events in your field
4. Create valuable content for prospects to view online
5. Set up extensive campaigns instead of relying on the phone alone
6. Be persistent to give yourself more opportunities
7. Invite prospects to private events
8. Have multiple prospecting strategies to deploy
9. Start with small requests to get your foot in the door

What's your best tip for getting more meetings?