One of the tricks that I learned is that at the beginning of every meeting you have with a potential buyer or someone who might use your product, always let them know the decision they need to make at the end of the meeting. It’s called submarining — you’re breaking up this long, really big decision of whether to potentially make this annual or multi-year commitment to your product into mini decisions.
And so perhaps on that first call with a prospect who responds to your email, start by sharing a little bit about who you are and say, “By the end of this meeting, I’d like to know X, and I’m going to ask you if you’d like to set up a follow-up demo with me.” That way everyone understands the goal of that time together. They’re not buying something. They just need to get to that yes or no decision. And a no is totally fine and actually encouraged if they don’t want to move on.
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