What must I do in the first 20 minutes of a sales appointment? Really struggling here

first of there is no such thing as the first 20 minutes, there is no magical number of minutes you must pass to be on a winner, so forget time frames. You need to be on ball from word one.

next do you have a mentor, is somebody who has been in thee business for a longer period of time teaching you? or have you bought into a churn n burn sales role where the company throws you in like cattle fodder in promises and dreams of grandeur ? if so leave and find a role where you do have training and a mentor.

the bit at the top, tells me ? that you start by telling the customer about you and your company ? beeeeeeep = no instead ask him about him and his company, he is only meeting with you to learn how to fix his business and to tell you about what he needs fixed. and does probably not give 2 knobs of rabbit sheite about you. you say you do not know whats needed, so a start would be to ask and listen and then advise and help the customer solve his / her problem, try that angle.

It's about creating a relations, ask them more questions, you need to know them, know what make the struggle and offer a solution for it..

How can you "start" with asking about HIM - if you first tell him, tell him, tell him....? The only company of importance at that appointment is THAT person's company.

In sales, when the other person is talking - you are in control. Think about that.

Start with asking short questions and let the client TELL YOU what he wants, why he called you, what he sees as unique about his company, etc. Get him involved in the appt instead of talking AT him.

OK here we go.

You really need a sort of printed form with a set of questions that would be relevant.

Hi Mr Customer. I'm thinking the best way to do this is if I ask you a few questions to see if I might be able to help....and then take it from there? How does that sound?

I'll make some notes as we go along ok?

In term of overall performance how would you say your website is performing at the moment?

[write down any major points he brings up]

And assuming I could do something to increase the revenue for you, what sort of improvement would you be looking for?

[write down any major points he brings up]

What things if any have you tried up to now to improve performance?

[write down any major points he brings up]

and so on......

You need about 10 to 20 relevant questions.

When you've done that [it's called qualifying] summarise by saying 'ok mr customer' based on what you've told me....I really think we could do something for you.

NOW AND ONLY NOW you can start to talk about what you can do, who uses you, all the benefits etc etc etc

THEN say...'based on what we've covered here, 'Would you like to go ahead and have me create a [whatever it is you do]?

Then just shut up and wait to see what the customer says.

I think we need to take a step back for a moment, and better understand the process... You are reaching out with LinkedIn, the potential client is responding, and then you are setting a sales meeting. and then ( sorry ) you blow the sale - is this correct?

ok so the first communication ( without getting into detail ) are you saying Hi, I'm Ramon and we offer explainer videos - if your interested contact me?

The respond back.. you know what, yeah I would like some more info.

Are you then ( still in messaging ) setting up a sales meeting?

OR at this point are you speaking with them and setting that up?

The setting the meeting portion is critical.. I will assume you are so focused on getting the appointment, you are not actually setting yourself for the appointment. "What is it we can do for you?"

How much homework are you doing on the potential client before you have the "sales meeting"

By opening your sales pitch with we do this we have done that we worked with A B and C we we - ok now... how are you unique? - you just sucker punched the guy.

I would start with something along the lines of... What aspect of your business can we help you with.. ( as it pertains to that specific client ) About us? or about a product? or about how to use this? or what your service does?

Another approach, and again depending on the potential client is asking what aspect of your business can we help you with? Is it onboarding? is it retaining? is it product information?

You need to allow the client to dictate the flow of the conversation.. ASK QUESTIONS. ( LISTEN ) find out by allowing them to tell you what their business' PAIN is, and then set the pitch as a solution for that pain.

My 2 cents...the most important thing you can get your prospect to do is articulate his pain. So figure out the most common reasons why people get your service and have him talk his way into it. In my industry, I ask "What sparked your interest?", "If you could magically make any part of your business stronger what would it be", and a bunch of others. Once your client identifies something roll with it. Don't go into your solution...ask your client to dig deeper...then once your client realizes there is a problem you can present the solution.

Ask SPIN questions.


This helps a lot.