This article originally appeared on past IES speaker Mike Weinberg’s The New Sales Coach web site.
I’ve got bad news and good news about your prospecting call.
The bad news is that, most of the time, regardless of how well you’ve done in the early stages of the prospecting phone call (right mindset, good voice tone, great start, and compelling, customer-issue-centered, value-dripping mini statement), it’s highly likely that the first request you make to set up a meeting will be met with a “no.”
That’s just reality. Very few prospects are sitting around with nothing to do just hoping a salesperson will call and ask them for a meeting. And unless you happen to call someone on the exact day that the “thing” you sell is broken or going wrong at their place, or their boss just launched an initiative that requires the type of solution you sell, the likelihood the prospect says “yes” the first time you ask for a meeting is low. I know. That’s not what you want to hear and it doesn’t help you want to make prospecting calls. But hear me out. The call isn’t over yet.
That first “no” isn’t personal and likely has nothing to do with you. That no is automatic. They’re busy and you’re a salesperson – and unfortunately, there are a lot of pathetic salespeople who waste prospects’ time. One of the keys to successful prospecting is understanding that you are going to hear “no” a lot, and it’s what you do next that determines how many meetings you are going to secure.
