You’ve had a great conversation with your prospect but before you jump off the call with them make sure you are clear about the next steps. Don’t get off the phone with them without scheduling the next meeting, and it has to be specific. Saying, well keep in touch well quite frankly means we won’t be in touch. If the next step is to speak with another decision maker, schedule a specific meeting or call, say 4 pm next Friday, does that work? Make it specific, and once they agree you can be confident that the call or meeting will go ahead.
At the end of the discovery call, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of thinking you’ve had a great conversation and you don’t want to appear pushy by trying to nail that next step. The reality is, if the conversation went well, you uncovered information, the client was sharing his concerns and troubles with you, asking questions, then why wouldn’t you want to ensure you get that next step in the diary. Think of it this way, by the time the buyer speaks with you they are already 40% if not more into the decision process. They have done their research, googled your company, looked up at the product or service, read reviews and probably even spoke to other people in the market. Now to get from this stage of researching that’s where the value of a discovery call and next step truly comes in.
Here is an example of an email you can send to your prospect after the call.
Dear John,
Great to meet with you today, thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.
I'm excited to explore this further with you as there's alignment on what we can solve.
I understood the key points to be:
- X
- Y
- Z
Have I captured this correctly?
Next steps: I’d love to introduce you to my AE to take the conversation further – I’ve sent a diary invite for 19th November as agreed.
Feel free to tweak this email as you feel appropriate as it captures different points for every interaction you are having.
The success of any sales individual whether you are an SDR or an Account Executive is to have a clear structure and process that will enable you to repeat your success time after time.
Thank you for listening to this course on Listenable! I hope you enjoyed it.
