A prospect meeting is an interaction between a potential customer and a salesperson to discuss the customer’s needs. Some teams call it a prospective meeting or an intro call, but the meaning is the same.
The purpose is for the salesperson to learn about those needs and see whether there’s a fit with their product or service.
The prospecting process, from initial contact to the discovery meeting, usually runs in four steps: outreach or inbound inquiry, a fit check, a booked meeting, and a logged next step.
For B2B salespeople, a meeting with a prospect may be the only path to a new client.
Prospects are busy people. Gartner reports that B2B buyers spend only about 17% of their purchase time with potential suppliers. You need a sales process that makes them want to meet, and that maximizes the meeting.
Here’s how to get more out of those meetings.
Clarify your messaging
Sales and marketing must collaborate on crystal clear messaging: what you do, how it improves your prospect’s life, how it works, and how they can get a quote.
Clear messaging on your website and social media that places the prospect at the center of their own story improves your chances of getting a meeting request.
Give your prospects meeting options
Everyone has a preferred way of communicating: in person, via video, or by phone.
You may receive a request for a link to your booking page, so use an app like Calendly or the appointment scheduling feature built into Google Calendar.
Calendly also lets your prospect add team members to the request. Most prospect meetings run 30 minutes or an hour, so offer both.
Prospect meeting software doesn’t have to be elaborate. A scheduling app, a video platform, and your CRM cover what a first meeting needs.
Booking meetings consistently takes a prospecting schedule. Block two or three windows each week for outreach and follow-up so your activity doesn’t depend on how you feel that day.
Position a meeting as a conversation
Avoid framing your meeting as a ‘discovery call’ or a ‘needs analysis.’ These terms may come across as jargon. If your team calls it a discovery meeting internally, keep that label off the invitation.
Instead, say you want a conversation to understand the prospect’s challenges and whether your product or service can address them.
Offer to send a meeting agenda. Your prospect will either say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
Research your prospect’s company and industry
The more background information you can gather beforehand, the better.
Becoming an overnight expert in an unfamiliar industry is challenging. But the more informed you are, the more likely you’ll hear your prospect say, “Good question,” which brings us to the next point.
Prepare a list of questions
Write up a list of questions to ask your prospect. Questions can relate to needs, wants, goals, budget, and timeline.
Try to memorize as many as possible so you don’t appear to be reading off a list. Ask them naturally, and glance at your list only if you need to. Write down the answers if you’re meeting face-to-face.
Once you’ve gathered enough information, you’ll be in the best position to talk about your solution and how it would benefit their organization.
Offer something of value
When you give upfront value, your prospect is more likely to keep you in mind if they aren’t ready to make a quick decision.
One example is a pearl of wisdom you’ve gained from working with other clients. Another is connecting your prospect with a customer who may be a candidate for their product or service.
Score the meeting on four signals
Within five minutes of hanging up, score the conversation.
| Signal | What a “yes” looks like |
|---|---|
| Named problem | A specific pain and its cost |
| Access | Someone who can approve or veto spending attended |
| Timeline | A date or event is driving the decision |
| Next step | A follow-up on both calendars |
Three or four ‘yes’ answers means advance the deal. Two or fewer means the prospect belongs in a nurture campaign, not your forecast. Logging the score in a CRM field turns a gut feel into a number, much like lead scoring measures prospect engagement earlier on.
Log your conversations
The more precisely you can log details of your conversations into your CRM system, the better.
Many teams now let an AI notetaker capture the transcript and summary, then move the agreed next steps into CRM fields themselves.
