Get More Sales Meetings by Doing This One Thing

When I first started in sales, I didn't see an increase in booked meetings and demos until I did this one thing. It's called creating a sales cadence. A sales cadence is the contact attempts that you make to increase the opportunity to speak to the decision-maker. This will also help you build a healthy sales pipeline where you’re constantly moving leads up the funnel into qualified opportunities. Bottom line, if you want to book more meetings when pursuing new client accounts, it's essential to have a follow-up sales cadence.

Many times, people are not going to be available on that first, second or even third contact attempt. So it's essential to maximise your chances of speaking with the decision maker by making several more contact attempts. Also, leads are expensive, whether you purchased them from a lead generation platform, or spent your own valuable time building them, don't let them go to waste that easily.

So what does a sales cadence look like in practice? Here is an example taken from my own CRM.

Cadence with cold lead 1 John: From xx company

Day 1: Contacted John for the first time. The call rang out. Left a voice message and sent a quick email.

Day 3: Attempted to call *John again. The call rang out. Sent a second email.

Day 6: Attempted to call John again. It rang out.

Day 10: Attempted to call John again. It rang out.

Day 15: Attempted to contact John again. Sent the final email. (John Responded to the email and said he was not the right person. Gave contact details of the right person. Although we had several decision makers from this company in our CRM, this decision maker was not on our radar.

John’s email response: ‘’Hey Rana, sorry not ignoring you. I’ve been off on personal leave. I also don’t make decisions when it comes to sales training. I suggest you reach out to *Mary in Learning and Development. Here is her email. Mary@xxcompany.com''

John didn’t provide Mary’s mobile phone number. Fortunately, I was able to get it from Lusha.

Cadence with lead 2 Mary: From xx company

Day 1: Contacted Mary for the first time. The call rang out. Left a voice message and sent a quick email. I mentioned that John suggested we connect.

Day 4: Attempted to call Mary again. The call rang out. Sent the second email.

Day 7: Attempted to contact Mary again. She picked up the call. We had a brief conversation. She showed interest in finding out more about sales training for her team. Sales meeting booked.

Although after the first sales meeting, this deal took about 5 months to close, what do you think may have happened if I gave up on cold outreach attempt number 1 or 2 with John or Mary? The conversation with Mary would have never happened. The sales meeting would have never been booked. The deal would have never closed.

Yet time and time again, research shows, that 80% of salespeople give up on cold outreach attempt number two. It usually takes at least four or five attempts to get through to a potential client. But the truth is, most sales happen after the fifth or sixth follow-up. That's why it's so important to create a follow-up cadence that lasts for two to three weeks and that are spaced out between 2 - 3 days. By staying persistent and keeping in touch with your leads, you'll increase your chances of making contact and qualifying them as a potential client.

Here are some quick best practices that I follow for creating a sales cadence.

1.      A sales cadence should not run longer than 2 – 3 weeks.

2.      It’s recommended that contact attempts are spaced out 2 – 3 + days.

3.      Use 3 different outreach channels. For example, phone, email, and voice message.

4.      No more than 5 – 7 contact attempts. Although you want to be persistent, you don’t want to come across as a stalker.

5.      If you believe that this is a highly qualified lead, recycle the lead after 3 months if no contact has been made with the decision maker.

It's also important to keep in mind that a sales call is just the beginning of the sales process. It's merely a touch-point prospecting strategy, not a complete one. To make the most of your cold calls, always remember to follow up. There's no point in making a cold call if you don't intend to follow up. Be sure to provide value and relevance at each stage.

I totally understand that a follow-up cadence can be intimidating for some people. You might be worried about coming off as too pushy or annoying. But, let me tell you from personal experience, being persistent pays off. I've experimented with both a laid-back and persistent approach when reaching out to new clients, and my success rate was much higher when I followed up consistently. So don't be afraid to check in with your leads and remind them of the value you can offer. 

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