Booking a Blitz? Remember to Qualify…

When booking a blitz (or, Sales Appointments) to meet with prospects at their office & discuss future potential, a question often arises:  Quantity or Quality?  It can be answered a few ways.  An argument can be made that if you see and speak to enough people, you will end up getting some qualified business potential.  While this certainly is possible, some may say that this is like throwing things at a wall and waiting to see what sticks…

Personally, I believe that Quality is better.  Our projects of late show some interesting stats.  To book appointments with companies that have not shown activity with you in a few years, or that would be entirely new business, it takes 20-30 times the number of contacts to book 1 appointment.  What does this mean?  If your want a salesperson/team to see an average 5-6 appointments per day over a 2-day blitz, then you could potentially have to contact 360 contacts to fill their days with 12 appointments.  Now, multiply that with several Sales Managers, properties, etc.  The numbers can be daunting.
To create a successful blitz, you have to create a successful plan.  Consider the following steps:

1. Identify your timeframe early.  Reserve the dates in your calendar, and reserve back-up dates if you can.  This will be helpful should you come across unexpected barriers (industry tradeshows, provincial holidays, etc).
2. Know the markets you want to meet.  Whether it is Association, Tour & Travel, or a mix of everything, identify them and prioritize them!
3. Find your data.  Whether you pull from your CRM, or you are purchasing a list, you will need to secure it early, because….
4. Start qualifying calls early – 6 to 8 weeks out, even 10 if you can.  Confirming whether the contact is still the same, identifying if they want to meet and if the dates selected are a viable option.  Ask them on their business potential – all very important – the more you qualify the better!
5. Nurture your prospect.  Between the initial call and securing the appointment, nurture them with a series of emails. Start with a thank you email (for the initial conversation) – start including links to your website and/or helpful information on your product/service.  The final email could re-direct them to book their appointment online, or to advise them to expect your call to secure the best time.  Once you have re-connected and booked the appointment, offer to send them an appointment for their calendar.
6. Reconfirm appointments.  If you have someone doing this for you, or if you are unsure which participants are going to be on what team, ensure that you call them back to let them know who will be coming to meet with them.  I also recommend calling a few days before to reconfirm the appointment, so both can be done then!

Doing these things will help ensure that the meetings are valuable for all parties involved.
And, if you still have a few time slots open during your blitz, arm your salespeople with  prospects located near your existing appointments.  If your sales team has spare time, they can drop in, gather some information from the receptionist or even the contact herself and leave some information behind.  That’s the power of face-to-face meetings!