My colleague had set up a meeting with a prospect. I traveled to the office and we spent time preparing - chatting about the customer, next steps, do we set up a projector? etc. Then, at the time the meeting was supposed to start, the email arrived. "I'm sorry, but I won't be able to make the meeting," wrote the prospect.
"Did you confirm the meeting?" I asked.
My colleague shrugged. "Sure, we agreed on this time two weeks ago."
It's natural to blame the prospect here. He had agreed to the meeting-didn't he know how to manage his calendar?
But this example demonstrates something important. We needed that meeting more than the prospect did. Delay won't affect him much - his work will go on. Delay affects our timing of revenue (assuming we win), or even the likelihood that the prospect will do anything at all (remember "Time Kills Deals"?).
As much as we talk about "value exchange" and "partnering" with our customers, the truth of the matter is that during the selling cycle they are more important to us than we are to them.
And that means, even when a prospect commits to a meeting, we need to follow up - a week ahead ("here's an agenda for our meeting"), then a couple of days before ("really looking forward to meeting; is there anything else you want to cover?"). Because if they forget, we pay the price.
Related post:
Shop Talk Podcast #1: Gordon Adams on "Time Kills Deals" (worth the listen to experience a truly primitive podcast - they have gotten a lot better sounding, don't you think?)
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