Booking meetings is arguably one of the most important steps in the sales process–getting face time with your buyers is key to building the rapport and trust you need in order to move them along in the deal cycle. Whether you’re meeting in person or virtually, you have to show up prepared, informed, and with a tailored agenda to make sure your buyer leaves wanting more. 

Now, booking meetings is more challenging than ever. Buyers like to do their own research, and with marketing budgets tightening up, it can be tough to get face time with buyers. 

6 tips to help you book more sales meetings

1. Know your stuff

Cold emails and calls are necessary, but if you aren’t showing up to your buyer with a hyper-personalized and informed experience, they aren’t going to bite. Everyone’s inbox is flooded with hundreds of the same templates–you have to know your buyer to stand out.

Research is key. Leverage LinkedIn–who is your buyer connected to? What’s their latest big achievement? Maybe they participated in a webinar recently or a conference. You can get to know how they think and how they approach their role in order to connect with them on their actual needs. 

Don’t forget to social media stalk. If they share their interests publicly (hobbies, sports teams, favorite musicians), use that to catch their attention. Don’t force it, no one loves a fake fan, but use your research to create authentic, human connections with your buyers. 

Additionally, you can use your pipeline generation strategy to inform you on who may be qualified and ready to buy.

2. Be consultative, not cocky

Sales pitches can come off the wrong way and leave a bad impression when you’re overly confident–you want the buyer to trust you, and believe in you, but you don’t want to overdo it. 

It’s all in the approach. 

Knowing that your product solves a real, valid pain point for a buyer and being enthusiastic to help them overcome their challenges comes across well when you’re building authentic connections with buyers. Keep this mindset as your focus when you address objections and competitors. Be careful not to blow off concerns, and genuinely empathize with your buyer’s hesitations. 

3. Know when to pull the trigger

Don’t kick off the conversation asking for a meeting–buyers need time to warm up and feel like they know what they’re going into. If you’re too pushy, it can read as desperate, and no one wants to book with someone who doesn’t seem confident and relaxed. 

Focus on these two things: 

‍Active listening

Successful salespeople are incredibly active listeners. Don’t listen to respond, listen to comprehend, and make sure you’re making the buyer feel heard and understood. Pay close attention to what they say, and what they aren’t saying in order to better understand their needs and the challenges they’re up against. 

‍Pacing yourself

Manage the flow of your conversations carefully. Your first few contact points should focus on triggering the buyer’s interest, and hearing them out. Before you even ask for the meeting, make sure that you have a thorough understanding of their needs and how your product addresses them. Spend time providing thoughtful interactions, content and case studies that address their concerns, and educating them before you jump into the meeting ask. 

4. Craft your ask

Don’t just shoot your buyer an email inviting them to book a meeting–wait until you’ve made enough of an impression that you think the buyer trusts you, and has a good enough idea of what you’re selling that they are ready to start talking details. 

Remember to be respectful of your buyer’s time. Don’t book an hour-long call when you really need fifteen minutes to better hash out their needs. Practice your pitch so it’s concise and effective, and leaves the buyer with enough information to decide if they want to move forward to longer, more in-depth conversations. 

Make sure that you have a plan for follow-up, as well. Once that meeting ask is out, don’t hammer them with reminders, but you also need to stay top-of-mind. Have useful content for them to check out at the ready, or give them a little nudge on LinkedIn by commenting on an article they share. 

Don’t be relentless, be engaged and memorable. 

5. Make scheduling the meeting insanely easy

Here’s the kicker–if you’re doing all the hard work to get a buyer interested in meeting, and then making them jump through hoops or back-and-forth emails to schedule it, you’re losing them. 

Using a meeting scheduling tool with a simple, easy interface is key to getting that meeting across the finish line. It needs to be clean, efficient and done in as few clicks as possible. The moment you have to take your buyer to a calendar, or another window, or bounce them back to a different team due to timezones, you’re out. 

Remove every possible point of friction by using the right tech. Explore how the Pipeline Cloud makes booking meetings as simple as two clicks, and see how it optimizes every aspect of your website for conversion here.

6. Establish yourself as a thought leader

There are a few ways to establish your brand as a leader in your industry. Thought leadership content is important to include in your marketing strategy in order to hone your messaging build a reputation for your company.

Industry thought leadership

Your company's team members should spend time optimizing their LinkedIn profiles and making it clear that they have expertise in the topics your customers are most concerned about. Posting a few times a week about trending topics, lessons they've learned, and content they find interesting are all great ways to help establish a network of thought leaders within your team.

Product thought leadership

Product thought leadership highlights the ways in which your product solves your customer pain points. This includes content like product guides, customer education, and masterclasses in how to leverage the strengths of your product to solve for common use cases potential buyers are researching.

Organizational thought leadership

Highlighting your internal culture, values, and brand ethos lets potential buyers peek behind the curtain and be inspired by your company's ethical practices. This builds trust between your customers and your team.