whistle-nIn yesterday’s blog post, we discussed the idea of considering a sales appointment as an extension of a regular corporate meeting. We looked at understanding the type of meeting you should engage in and the purpose for it, and the first of two critical components, having an agenda.

Today’s post will cover the need for a meeting to have an effective referee, and the culture you should establish for your sales appointments with your prospects.

In Review:

Part I

1. Decide whether an appointment is about alignment or creation.
2.1. “A meeting has two critical components: [one of them is] an agenda.”

Part II

2.2. “A meeting has two critical components: [the other one is] a referee.”

First, let’s be clear: the onus always falls on you, the sales rep, to be the referee of a meeting, because you control the flow of information . . . .

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phone-screen-smAuthor Michael Lopp, blogging under the pseudonym “Rands in Repose,” presented an outstanding treatise this morning on how to run a meeting that brilliantly captures the essence of your average corporate pow-wow—but also contains some striking parallels to sales appointment setting.

What is a “sales cycle” after all, if nothing more than a series of “mini-meetings,” each designed to progress the sale and provide value for both parties?

Not every process works the same obviously, but as Lopp states, a good corporate meeting should decide whether it is about alignment or creation, should have both an agenda and a referee, and should avoid creating a culture of “having meetings for having a meeting’s sake.”

And all three ideas are eminently applicable to sales appointments . . . .

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We are often asked, how many times should I follow up before I close a deal? Let’s break that into two parts: 1) How many calls should you make to set an appointment? 2) How many calls should you make to close a sale after the 1st appointment? We have closed deals that have resulted after 41…

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