Don't Blow the First Call

I often hear during sales coaching sessions with my clients that it’s getting harder and harder to make sales appointments.

Logically, business are leaner and people have more things to do.

Here are some interesting statistics from 2019:

• More than 40% of salespeople say Prospecting is the most challenging part of the sales process, …. If you find prospecting to be the most difficult part of your job, you’re not alone.
• It takes an average of 18 calls to actually connect with a buyer.
  
  

Fifty-eight percent of prospects want to talk price on the very first call, while only 23% of reps are ready to do that. Similarly, 54% of prospects want to learn how a product works on the first call, while only 23% of reps are ready and willing to break it down.

Unfortunately (and ironically), it seems like most salespeople don't know how to (or even want to) handle a product and pricing conversation on the first call. But should they? After all, don’t most sales experts advocate for discussing needs and pain points before pitching a product?

The following quote says this well,
“It’s never been harder for a sales pro to get an appointment with a prospect. The pace of business has increased to such a fever pitch that few people have time to meet with anybody, much less a sales pro.”

So, it has become increasingly important that your first meeting with a prospect be successful.
The last thing you want to do is blow it.

This post talks about the research on first sales calls.
The first sales call conundrum