Sometimes it's ultra important to go back to some of the basics. One of those basics is the simple act of asking for a commitment to a next step before you leave the prospect's office during a meeting. These six reasons should be more than enough for you to work this discipline back into your cycles.
1) To shorten your sales cycles: Most salespeople (and I'm not saying you are "most salespeople"), at the end of a meeting, say something like, “I’ll call you next week”. They end up wasting tons of time playing phone tag. Why not schedule the next step while you’re still face-to-face? You can shave 1-2 weeks between meetings, and as much as a month off the total sales cycle. “Just so we don’t end up playing phone tag, can we schedule a time to talk next week? How’s Wednesday at 10am?” Or, if your contact suggests that the next step is with someone else, why not ask, "Can we give Ms. Big a call right now to schedule something for next week?"
2) To better manage your travel: Once you have that scheduled meeting, you can immediately start to schedule other meetings with others at that location, or other prospects in the area. “I’m meeting with Freddy Paycheck at your location on Monday at 2pm. Can we get together at 3:30pm?”
3) To better manage your time & your prospect’s attention: Think about the way you work: When a proposal is due “sometime next week”, it moves to the bottom of the priority list. If it’s due Friday, May 27th at 10am, it suddenly becomes more important. Your prospects go through this as well. If it’s on their calendar, it suddenly becomes more of a priority.
4) To better understand who’s a priority for you: Back in my single days, when a girl used to tell me, “I’ll call you”, I used to believe it. It could be a “no” without you hearing the word “no”. When a prospect is willing to give you another slot on their calendar, interest is demonstrated by that action.
5) To send the right message: Your time is valuable, too. “When are you free?” translates to, “I’m willing to spend hours traveling each way to spend 10 minutes with you.” Instead, be specific in requesting that next step: “I’m available at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon. How does that work for you?” A surgeon with an empty calendar is probably not a good surgeon. Create the impression that you’re in-demand.
6) To get what you deserve: You spent all kinds of time prepping, traveling, and meeting with this prospect. Why would you leave the meeting without some sort of commitment / agreement to proceed from that prospect?
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