Crushing your quota in the sales industry is all about nailing qualified meetings and eventually closing the deal. Consistently having a large number of meetings is good, but you want to make sure each meeting is up to your standards.

Whether you’re meeting a prospect for the first time or getting ready to close a deal, you always want to enter a meeting with a goal in mind. By establishing a goal for the meeting you get an idea of how the interaction is going to play out.

Finding qualified prospects who are willing to sit down and hear your pitch may be tough, however these are the individuals you want to target. The more qualified the sales meeting, the higher chance your prospect will jump on board.  

When planning your future meetings, keep these tips in mind and you will find yourself getting more qualified sales meetings:

First Impressions  

Sales roles provide countless opportunities to leave impressions on potential, loyal, and prospective customers. The first interaction you have with a new prospect may be the most important one.

These interactions come in a variety of forms, the most common interactions we see in sales today are the classic cold calling and emailing techniques. There is a distinct method to execute the perfect cold outreach, and with practice you can find yourself nailing these first impressions every time.

The main goal to keep in mind when cold calling or emailing is giving the prospect a reason to WANT to talk to you. Anyone you reach could hang up the phone without a second thought if they’re not interested. It’s your job to make them interested.

Most people make the mistake of trying to sell their product or service during the first interaction. This comes off  as impersonal and may lose your prospect’s interest from the start. Instead, do some background research on your prospect and their company to lead with.

A poor cold outreach first impression may sound like this:

“Hi there, my name is John and I work for Badger Maps. We are a routing application that optimizes driving time and organization for field sales people. Would you be interested in trying out our software?”

Whereas an effective one may sound like this:

“Hi Richard, my name is John and I work for Badger Maps. I noticed your company is heavily reliant on your sales outreach and can only assume you’ve got reps driving all over the city on any given day. We at Badger specialize in route optimization and have helped field sales people cut down loads of unnecessary driving time. How much time would you say your reps spend on the road?”

Notice how the second impression didn’t even sound like John is selling anything. By creating a personal message, you give your prospect comfort in continuing the conversation. You are immediately seen as someone genuinely interested in helping rather than someone just trying to make a quick sale.   

A well-executed first impression does not necessarily have to be a mouthful. As long as you address your prospect respectfully and give them a reason to learn more about what you do, then you’re already on the right track.

Voicemails, Voicemails, Voicemails

You might always get through to your prospect on the first call. Leaving a voicemail is completely acceptable as long as you’re giving the prospect a concrete reason to call you back.

Much like cold calling and emailing, voicemails need to peak the prospect’s curiosity and incentivize them to reach back out. You do this through establishing a relationship with the prospect.

You might be thinking, “How do I establish a relationship with a prospect without talking to them directly?” Well, it starts by doing research about the individual and their company. Figure out their main pain points are and figure out how your product or service can cater to their specific needs.

You won’t be talking to a person directly when leaving a voicemail so you’ll need to dig a bit more and find out as much as you can about what they do. You’ve got one shot at this and won’t have the chance to feel out a conversation, so research, research, research.

An effective voicemail would sound similar to the latter example of the first impressions cold call. Instead of ending with a question, you would end with something like this:

“I would love to hear back so we can discuss your company a bit further and see about getting your reps up to their optimum potential.”

By showing your prospect that you understand where they’re coming from and that you have the intention of helping them or their business (without sounding pushy), they will have every reason to pick up the phone and give you a call back.

Uphold Your Product’s Value

The most important thing you should remember when selling your product is not to sell your product. This may sound crazy, but you will find that by avoiding the classic “selling” techniques you will get better qualified prospects and more closed deals.

Listen how sales professional Tito Bohrt speaks about how we can use knowledge on our products’ value to get more qualified sales meetings here.  

You already know the value of your product, odds are that’s why you’re selling it. You need to get your prospect to understand and appreciate that same value you do. This isn’t done by flashy demos or over the top messaging, but rather personal interactions.

Remember what you learned earlier about cold calling and voicemails? A similar principle applies here. Use value points that your prospect will understand and show them the value in your product. If they see value in your product then they’re likely to become a loyal customer rather than just a one-time purchase.

Always strive to gain loyal customers. These are the people who will advocate for your business with referrals and continue to see value in your product/service.

Let’s say you’re selling a virus protection software. Instead of listing off the capabilities of the software, do a bit of research and pitch why your product is exactly what the prospect needs for their business. Only then will they see value in the product and want to talk about next steps.

Always Follow Up

Following up is almost as important as the meeting itself. It gives the prospect solidarity in your interaction and leaves them confident that you will meet their needs with your product/service.

Following up can take on many different forms. With the most popular one being email, personal follow ups such as handwritten notes can go a long way.

Stay away from gifts. A handwritten note is usually the furthest one should go when following up with anyone, be it a prospect, loyal customer, or even a superior. Nonetheless, it leaves your meeting fresh in your prospect’s mind and serves as a reminder for him to pursue your company in the future.

While getting qualified sales meetings may be tough, these are the ones that will get you where you want to be in sales. Keep these points in the back of your head the next time you’re hunting for prospects or preparing for a meeting. By doing so, you will begin to see yourself nailing those meetings with decision makers and eventually closing more deals.

Learn more about How to Get More Qualified Sales Meetings with Outside Sales Talk.