Prepare to Get an Appointment

Picture yourself in a room with a lot of people. These are business people. People you need to know: marketing directors, buyers, presidents, etc. (SIMS fans are welcome to add decorative components to this visual exercise, such as a bar or a fern).

You see an attractive prospect across the room. This person is attractive not because of how they look (it’s not that kind of bar!), but rather because you believe you could do business with them.

You cross the room, approach him, stick out your hand, and introduce yourself: “Hi, my name is Bill Farquharson. I sell printing and would very much appreciate the opportunity to talk to you about your business and your print needs.”

I promise you, this is what the prospect heard you say: “Blah, blah, blah, Bill Fahrvergnügen, blah, blah, blah, take time out of your busy day to stop what you’re doing and educate me on your business and your job so that I can bore you to death with my printing capabilities. Blah.”

Stop.

Rewind.

Do over.

You see an attractive prospect across the room. This person is attractive not because of how they look (it’s not that kind of bar!), but rather because you believe you could do business with them. Tapping the shoulder of the person next to you, you ask if they know that person. They do and give you his name.

Whipping out your iPhone, you look him up on Google, LinkedIN, Twitter and Facebook. In short order, your learned where he went to school, a bit about his background, and the fact that you share two LinkedIN groups with him. You know where he works and taken the time to learn a bit about what his business challenges are.

You cross the room, approach him, stick out your hand, and introduce yourself: “Hi, my name is Bill Farquharson. You’re the marketing manager at Enormous Corp., aren’t you? I read that you have a major product launch coming up this fall. The Wall Street Journal called it a ‘game changer.’