5 Tips Mechanical Contractors Can Use to Prepare for a Prospect Sales Meeting

As a mechanical contractor, you'll probably spend a significant portion of your workday meeting with potential customers. During a typical sales meeting, you'll need to explain the benefits of your HVAC, plumbing and piping company's product or service and why it's a good fit for the B2B sales lead. As a result, the way in which a sales meeting is executed can mean the difference between generating a sale and losing a sale. You can better prepare for a sales meeting, however, by following these five tips.

#1) Aim for 20 Minutes or Less

Engagement typically drops off after the first 20 minutes of a sales meeting. If your sales meeting is longer than 20 minutes, the sales lead or prospect may lose interest, thereby lowering your chances of scoring a sale. When preparing a sales meeting, map out the topics you'd like to discuss while aiming for a total start-to-finish length of 20 minutes or less.

Now when the sales meeting occurs with the sales lead, let the prospect know that you want to respect their time and would you like to continue. If the sales lead says no, they may want to schedule another meeting, or even contact their next meeting and push it back a few more minutes. By being courteous of their time, you will find out their level of interest in your services.

#2) Make It Valuable

Statistics show that over half of buyers believe sales meetings aren't valuable. Rather, they perceive sales meetings as being a waste of their time. To keep prospects satisfied, you should make your sales meeting valuable. Find out what is going on in their business that they even consented to the meeting. Then focus in on the products and services that best apply to their need...it could be that they are planning a new addition and need new plumbing and piping. Maybe they need a way for the heating and air conditioning to be more efficient. You'll soon find out.

#3) Research the Prospect

When preparing for a sales meeting, research the prospect to learn as much as you can about his or her company as well as their needs. No two prospects have the same exact needs. By researching prospects before the meeting, you'll have a better understanding of what he or she is looking for. And during the meeting, you can use this information to customize your approach for a better chance of success.

This is where the News feature in the SalesLeads' system will come in handy. All you need to do is put in the company name, and choose the type of information you want to gather. That's it. Now the system will notify you when news about the sales lead occurs.

#4) Gather Resources

You'll need to gather resources when preparing for a prospect sales meeting. If you're meeting to discuss a new air conditioning system, for example, you may want to bring product brochures, video of an install, and customer testimonials. 

#5) Send a Reminder

Finally, send the sales lead or prospect a reminder about the upcoming sales meeting. With industrial buyers being plant managers, maintenance managers, operations manager or maybe even the business owner, they are often busy running their department. Therefore, it's not uncommon for prospects to forget about an otherwise scheduled sales meeting. By calling and/or emailing the sales lead or prospect, though, you can remind her about the planned appointment.