Tired of Cancelled Conference Calls?

“What can I do to keep prospects from canceling our conference call?”

I could probably write a small book on this one subject alone… or at least a really deep chapter. So what I will share with you here instead is one small step to add to your sales process that will be easy to remember, easy to use starting today, and will produce positive results for you ASAP.

For this to work we need to make a couple of assumptions:

1. You’ve done a solid job of piquing the prospect’s interest and;
2. You’re speaking with the right person. They don’t have to be the actual check writer, mind you, but someone who is at least authorized and qualified to be part of the early discussions (You can find out more about their role, and their organization’s particular purchasing process at the appropriate time during the meeting you will have with them)

So with those two assumptions covered, here’s the added step to your sales process that when done correctly and with consistency, will help increase your prospect’s desire to meet with you and say “no” to other forces that want your time slot.

Your Calendar Reminder is Sabotaging You

Most of us are already in the habit of sending out a calendar reminder to our prospects once we’ve set the meeting (and if you aren’t – you should be)

The problem is, most calendar reminders come over with some variation of this conference call description:

“25-minute call to learn about (PROSPECTS COMPANY NAME) needs.”

Competition and Pre-Buyers Remorse

Selling B2B by phone requires one to understand that your targeted audience is under siege.

Not only are you calling for their attention – but so are your competitors. And guess what… your targeted prospect probably makes or is part of the decision-making process in 5 to 50 other areas as well and all those verticals are calling your golden prospect too, not to mention the normal day-to-day fires they were hired to handle.

So when it gets closer to meeting time and they look on their calendar and see they need to spend 5 / 10 / 15 or 20 or more minutes with you so you can “learn about their needs” it’s real easy to see how they can justify pushing your meeting off.

The bottom line is this: you didn’t get them to see enough of a WIIFT (What’s In It For Them) reason to keep the meeting.

So What Can You Do?

So here’s what you do with your calendar reminder to increase the odds of them keeping your scheduled conference call:

Send them a calendar reminder that covers three points:

1. Hit the WIIFT (What’s In It For Them) Hot Button
2. Bring Up a Concern / Question You know They Probably Have
3. Add a Mystery Incentive

EXAMPLE

Let me give you an example of one I sent to a prospect just the other day:

Here’s what it said/looked like:

Subject: (PROSPECTS COMPANY NAME) / SalesBuzz.com
When: (Date / Time of Meeting)
Type: Conference Call
Description:

1. Determine what type of results (PROSPECTS COMPANY NAME) could expect from SalesBuzz.com’s online B2B phone skills improvement workshops;
2. What the initial investment might be;
3. And see if any incentives are currently available.

Notice how the bullet points hit the three key areas? The prospect has more information to make a better educated decision when deciding to keep or cancel the meeting.

Believe it or not, it’s the little things like this that make the difference between average results and getting over-the-top high commission paychecks.

– Michael Pedone
Michael Pedone teaches inside sales teams how to pick up the phone and close business. He is the CEO/FOUNDER of SalesBuzz.com – An online sales training company.