Getting Prospects to Commit to Follow-up Meetings Have you ever hit it off with a great prospect where the two of you really connected? At the end of the meeting he said to give him a call in a couple weeks and get back together. The problem is that after numerous attempts through voicemail and email to reconnect with him, what seemed like a hot prospect has now turned ice cold.
Unfortunately, you’ve made a common mistake when you ended your meeting. Instead of agreeing to call him “in a couple of weeks” you should have said something more specific like, “John, I am so glad we got to talk. So we don’t play phone tag, let’s pencil in a time and date that would work for us to reconnect on this issue?” Using this tactic holds both parties accountable by setting a date and time for your next meeting. Once you set that meeting, you should follow up by saying something like, “To ensure that our next meeting is productive, what specifically will be of most interest to you that we should be prepared to discuss further?” This question allows you to probe a little deeper and uncover John’s motives and what he expects to happen during the next meeting. Notice the word “prepared”. You’re implying that both parties should plan on providing additional ideas, resources or people to move the relationship forward.