How do I set up a B2B sales meeting?

An essential part of any commercial relationship, the B2B sales meeting is the Holy Grail of the sales person in charge of prospecting. Obtaining availability from the right persona who has directly or indirectly expressed an intention to sell is often the primary objective of the SDR (Sales Development Representative). Beyond the SDR, it must also be the priority of a sales strategy, at least initially. 

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Each market has its own particularities, just as each structure has its own sales processes. For example B2B sales appointment setting is not an exact science, and it's sometimes difficult to generate appointments with the people you're targeting. Nevertheless, in this article we'll try to highlight the best practices to adopt in order to get the most sales meetings with qualified people.  

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The importance of the B2B sales appointment

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While the majority of online purchases are carried out without any human intervention, with users only having the intermediary of the purchasing platform(s) put online by the selling company, B2B sales are not as straightforward. For a number of reasons,the buying decision is generally much longer and more complex, and sales teams have to redouble their efforts to bring these decisions to fruition in an increasingly competitive environment.

Whether for prospecting, negotiation, or simply as a way of presenting the company and its products/services, the sales meeting is an essential part of a company's commercial development. 

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Whether face-to-face or by videoconference, here are the main added values of sales appointments:

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• It enables us to develop solid professional relationships with potential customers and build loyalty with existing ones. Spending time with customers establishes you as atrusted player in the market.
• It provides an opportunity to present the company's products or services in detail, and to answer customers' questions and needs. If the services/products on offer match the customer's needs at the right time, then the likelihood of a sale increases considerably. 
• It allows us to discover new collaboration opportunities and develop new sources of revenue.
• It can be used to sound out customers' expectations and needs in order to better target the company's offerings and adapt to market demand.

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In short, B2B sales appointment setting is a key element in a company's development strategy and its ability to achieve its sales objectives.

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For a valuable appointment, use pre-established targeting: 

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The sales meeting is essential, but onlyif the targeting done beforehand is coherent and precise. It's important to make sure it's relevant to both you and your customer. 

Setting up a B2B meeting with a prospect requires a great deal of resources. Between the various acquisition levers (telephone calls, mailing campaigns, commercial prospecting on Linkedin...) to be put in place and the time allocated by each sales rep to B2B appointments, a sales force must ensure that an appointment is only made with a qualified prospect. 

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Here are the steps to follow for good targeting before commercial prospecting:

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1. Define your target: start by determining who your ideal prospects are, based on their characteristics (sector of activity, prospects' jobs, company size, etc.) and your sales history. Use what you know about the market and add new types of prospects who will serve as new business leads. 

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2. Create a prospect list: collect all data on selected prospects in a prospecting list, including their contact details and finding information relevant to your prospecting. 

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3. Segment your prospect list: segment your prospect list into homogeneous groups, based on their characteristics or needs, to better target your prospecting efforts. Segmentation will help you to differentiate between certain types of personas, so you can choose the best way to prospect each list. A good lead generation strategy needs to differentiate these contact attempts. 

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4. Select relevant prospects: Based on all the data retrieved, use all this information to select the most qualified prospects for your company, according to their conversion potential and their ability to become long-term customers. This selection should enable you to concentrate your efforts on the "hottest" leads, those who, once they've been put through to sales meetings, are most likely to convert. 

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It's when this kind of targeting is put in place that the sales meeting takes on its full meaning. However, being on the list of prospects with whom you want to have a meeting does not mean that they systematically share this desire, or even that they are aware of our offers.

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Once we're sure that a sales meeting with a prospect is the right thing to do, it's up to us to do everything we can to get in touch with them and convince them to meet with us. 

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How do you get an appointment with a prospect once you're sure he's in your target group?

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Once you've put in place the right methodology for targeting your prospects, all that's left to do is mobilize all your resources to prospect the leads you've selected. This stage is just as important as the targeting stage, and will require most of the resources you allocate to your company's B2B sales development. 

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While we may think that a prospect has every interest in working with us, buying our products or subscribing to our service offers, they may not feel the same way, or may simply not be aware of our existence. 

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The aim is to establish an initial contact that will enable us to deliver a quality initial sales pitch. The aim of this speech is to present the company and its offers, but above all to refocus the message on the prospect and how our offers are of value to this particular company. Tailoring the message to the prospect will add value every time. 

To establish these contacts, we need to implement the appropriate acquisition levers for each type of persona. However, these different prospecting channels do not have the same virtues: while some are easy to reach, they attract little or no attention. On the other hand, while some may only have a low distribution capacity, they can be used to establish an initial, engaging contact with the prospects concerned. 

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Here is a list of the main prospecting channels with their advantages and disadvantages: 

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Focus on telemarketing: How do I call a prospect?

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One of the most important prospecting channels in B2B is telephone prospecting. When our databases are well-stocked and our prospects' business numbers are entered, telephone prospecting is a practice that, if well executed, can quickly yield a powerful return for your business development. When the call is successful, you'll get a clear answer from your prospect, and you'll establish an initial contact that will enable you to qualify your prospect as effectively as possible. 

The performance of a telemarketing campaign will largely depend on the competence of the people making the sales calls and, once again, on the pre-established targeting. Indeed, a call will only be well received by our prospects if the message is relevant and seems to have value for them. 

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To achieve this, a competent cold call or semi-cold call salesperson must : 

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• Quickly convince the prospect of your value TO them by putting them at the center of your discourse. This means avoiding talking only about yourself and your company , and focusing on offers that are of value to the prospect alone. 

• Positioning ourselves as a help to our prospects. Our offer has value and meets needs, which is why we propose it to prospects who are concerned by these needs. 

• Be able to present all the competitive advantages and respond to potential customer objections. A good sales pitch is not a paragraph to be recited by heart, but a dynamic discourse that evolves according to the prospect and the answers he or she gives. 

• Get as much information as possible about your prospect and his or her qualification level. To do this, a call is successful if it follows at least the BANT (=Budget, Authority, Need, Time). 

• Having a clear tone of voice, a pleasant flow of speech and knowing how to "smile" on the phone will also play a part in the success of a sales call with your prospect. 

• Lastly, be able to schedule another, longer appointment for a more in-depth discussion. As a cold call is, by definition, a first call with a prospect who is not expecting it, the duration of these calls is rarely long. It's therefore important to propose a second, longer exchange, to further mature the prospect's desire to buy (or even lead to a closing if you take the necessary time). 

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A call campaign can also follow on from a mailing campaign. In this way, the calls you make come after your prospects have already received initial e-mails. The prospect is then more aware of your offers, and this first e-mail(s) is a good introduction to your sales call, which is then more likely to lead to a constructive exchange. You're bouncing off something tangible, so you're not a total stranger in your prospect's eyes. 

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