Buyers today are busier than they have ever been. So, for a company to connect with a prospect, they have to supersede all other priorities, tasks, meetings, emails, and notifications that the prospect already has on the table. Most initial meetings last between 30 and 40 seconds, so how do you get someone’s attention in this short span without coming off as slimy or pushy? The following techniques can help.
- Make it About the Prospect, Not You
Even though you’re most likely dying to deliver your sales pitches, it’s better to start the conversation by bringing up something about your prospect. Starting the conversation this way can help interrupt their flow and get their attention on you. However, you have to have a customized observation or question that is completely independent of you. For example, you could ask, “How does your company do X?” instead of asking, “I saw your company does X, and this is fantastic because I can help you do Y.” If they sense a sales pitch coming, they’re more likely to tune you out. Take yourself out of the conversation at first and focus on them.
- Offer to Interview Them
Instead of trying to pack a few sales pitches or mini-interviews into a few minutes, offer to set up a one-on-one interview with your prospect. Find a date and time that works for them for this interview. You have the choice of so many interview options now too. It could be a podcast, live stream, or even a video. Come up with a list of questions ahead of time to ask, and do a little research about their company or position so you can keep the conversation’s flow going from start to finish.
- Offer a Guest Blog Post on Your Website
If you can find a way to hook your prospect’s business into your own, you could ask them to write a guest blog post for your website. This allows them to showcase their knowledge and see how they would work with your products or services. As a bonus, it gives them more exposure to your audience, especially if they backlink to their own business’s blog or website to generate more traffic. This could be a one-time guest post spot, or you could work together to make it a reoccurring thing every few weeks.
- Ask Them to Appear in an Expert Q&A Session on Your Site
You want people to feel important, especially if it’s a prospect. Having an expert-level question and answer session on your website and inviting them to join in could be a great way to make them feel valued. Again, set up the questions ahead of time and make sure they’re relevant to your prospect’s business or niche. You could give them a copy of the questions ahead of time to ensure they have time to prepare if they accept your offer too. Make sure you advertise this session ahead of time to generate interest.
- Share and Comment on Their Videos, Blog, or Social Media
You do want to be careful with this tip. Don’t go over the top and flood your prospect’s feed with likes, reactions, or comments on every single video. Instead, pick a few relevant ones and leave a thoughtful comment. Going overboard makes you look far too eager to interact with one person, and it can also come off as very pushy on your part. The goal is to spark conversations with your prospect and give yourself common ground to work on.
- Share the Prospect’s Events
Even if your prospect has a decent following, it doesn’t hurt to reach out and share their events when you see that they’re hosting them. You may want to ask permission first, but sharing events is usually a good thing for the prospect because it broadens their audience and it can boost their attendance rates. Keep an eye out for any events where you could possibly collaborate.
- Sponsor the Prospect’s Events
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to support a prospective client or partner than to offer to sponsor their event. You don’t have to sponsor the whole thing, but asking if they’d be willing to work with you and let you sponsor at least part of one of their upcoming events is a great way to set up the start of a solid working relationship. Consider introducing them to other partners of yours to expand their network at the same time. You could get them multiple sponsors this way.
Allow Six Degrees Digital Media to Help
If you’re not sure where to start with your prospect, allow us to help. You can schedule a free strategy session today!
