Getting in the door

Having trouble setting up an appointment to present your proposal to your dream clients? Here are some of the reasons they keep refusing to meet with you:

1. Wasted time. Your dream clients refuse to give you their time because they suspect that you will waste it. Their experience suggests this idea to them. Salespeople often visit them with no plan, no real idea of prospects’ needs and no plan to create value. So, they refuse you, along with every other salesperson. Promise not to waste their time — and deliver.
2. Not different enough. Face it: You aren’t the only one calling your dream clients in an attempt to gain their time and attention. Your request sounds a lot like the 13 other calls they have received this week. So share what makes you different and why this difference matters.
3. Too much work. It’s hard to change the tires on an automobile that’s moving fast and being urged to go even faster. Stopping to meet with salespeople takes time away from the never-ending urgencies piling up around your dream clients. Your dream clients don’t even have time to meet with members of their own team, let alone a salesperson who may or may not offer them a benefit. Offer to meet them at the time that works for them — perhaps a working lunch?
4. No hint of value. Your message doesn’t even hint at what’s in it for your dream clients. Sure, you’ll do a needs analysis and try to dredge up some pain that you can use to create an opportunity. But what does your dream client get out of meeting with you? If there’s no value proposition they can easily discern, you can expect to hear “no.” Tell them what they’ll get out of meeting with you — even if they don’t buy from you.
5. You might bring real change. What you say to gain an appointment with your dream clients may be compelling. But real change is scary. Your dream clients are perfectly comfortable with the devil they know. You are a whole new devil. Even if you have the ability to improve things, what will be the cost of doing so? Build trust and nurture relationships over time so that they can become comfortable talking to you.

Try to understand where your prospects are coming from. It’ll increase your chances of slipping past their barriers, so you can land the client of your dreams.