How to Plan the Perfect Sales Appointment

Top tips to conducting the perfect sales appointment! 

You don’t get many second chances in this world and that’s why it’s important to optimise the opportunity of a sales call, especially given your client’s time is often limited. Here are our top tips to nail your sales appointment.

Plan your meeting in advance 
Why do you want to meet with this client? What's your purpose? Depending if they are a new or existing client, you will have different objectives. It may be because you want to establish an idea of the types of events they run, or purely to establish a great relationship. Whatever your objective, ensure this is your focus during the call.

Research the company 
Do your homework and understand the business and the client you are meeting with. Go through their website, their social, understand their team, business objectives, their competitors and have some idea about what types of events they run. Refer to this knowledge during your meeting.

Pre-plan your questions  
Have a list of questions you want to ask and ensure you don’t leave the meeting without having these answered.

Keep to time
If you’ve promised a 30 minute meeting, check in at the 25 minute mark and let them know that the 30 minute time frame is approaching and check they are happy to proceed or would they want to wrap up the meeting. This will ensure you remain respectful of their time. 

Establish Rapport
If you’re meeting this client for the very first time, it’s important not to launch straight into ways you can help them. Start by asking questions about them, about their business and listen to them when they speak. Make sure you don’t interrupt them, keep it friendly, casual, but professional. 

Pitch your business
Positioning your pitch is an art form, it should feel like a natural conversation, touching on all the ways that your product/service is a great match for your client, it should give them the impression it was personally curated for them. 

Thank you and follow up
On conclusion of the meeting, ensure you leave them a gift or some type of “leave behind” which will keep you top of mind and leave a lasting memory for them in the future. Ensure, once you’re back in the office, send a follow up note that afternoon or the next day, logging all communications into your CRM with forward reminders to ensure communication is consistent. If they’ve given you the task to prepare a proposal, ensure timelines are adhered and you put your best foot forward! 
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Happy selling and remember, sales is just a conversation.