Sales Effectiveness Tip: Create the Perfect Email Meeting Invite

Sales Effectiveness Tip: Create the Perfect Email Meeting Invite

Great salespeople should always be looking for ways to improve their sales effectiveness. But sometimes it’s tweaking the simple, everyday activities that makes a big difference—without a lot of effort.

Take the email meeting invite, for example.

It’s something we all do so often we hardly even think of it. But as someone who attends a fair amount of vendor sales presentations, I’ve realized the email meeting invitation makes a big impact.

What NOT to Do When Sending an Email Meeting Invite

Let’s set up a typical scenario and highlight what NOT to do with meeting invitations:

Your sales rep has an initial conversation with a prospect. It could be over the phone, or through email. The prospect is interested, and they ask your salesperson to schedule a meeting at a later date for the formal sales presentation or product demo. The prospect receives the meeting invite, accepts, and goes back to their busy schedules.

Some time passes, and it’s the day of the meeting. The meeting invite notification pops up on the prospect’s computer or device.

Here’s where the problem comes in.

Many times, the invite will simply say “Call with [Prospect’s Name].”

I’ve had this happen to me so many times and it drives me crazy. I know that I’ll be on the call. But the real question I’m having a week or more after my initial conversation with whoever sent me the invite is: who’s going to be on the call, what is going to be discussed, and am I prepared?

That means I have to go back through my email and try to find correspondence about this appointment.  If I’m lucky, I’ll find it. Rare is the occasion when I actually have time to research the nature of an appointment, though.

How Sales Reps Should Optimize Email Meeting Invites for Prospects

When your salespeople email a calendar invitation, they should be sure to include the information the prospect needs in the subject. Something like, “Call with [salesperson’s name] about [name of product or service].

In the meeting details, reps should include everything your prospect or customer will need to get context around the meeting. Any information that will help them attend the meeting or the call should be included as well.

Salespeople Should Follow These Email Meeting Invite Best Practices:

  • Create a subject line that is informative yet brief (include the rep’s name, company name, and/or product or service to be presented
  • Include clear meeting details such as location, directions, or call-in instructions
  • Add any relevant information that will help the prospect remember why they were initially interested in your product or service
  • Consider including a short summary or bullet list of the meeting’s agenda

Having all the information in one place will facilitate a smooth meeting in which all attendees can focus on the meaningful purpose of the appointment (your product or service) and not the distracting logistics of the meeting itself.

Why Are These Simple Tweaks So Important?

When you get in alignment with the way that people want to buy, selling becomes much, much easier.  Part of that is to make it easy for buyers to do business with you by removing any kind of friction. Simply paying attention to the details can get your salespeople much further in their selling efforts.

Small details like email meeting invites go a long way in improving sales effectiveness, but a standardized sales process that your reps can use with every prospect is key to aligning with the buyer’s journey.

The IMPACT Selling process allows salespeople to effortlessly guide prospects through every stage of the sale. It’s buyer-focused, easy to learn and apply, and most importantly—it’s extremely effective at increasing close rates and protecting profit margin.

Have your reps attend an upcoming IMPACT Selling Seminar—in two days they will transform their sales approach.

 

 Sales Effectiveness Tip: Create the Perfect Email Meeting Invite | The Brooks Group

 

 

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Written By

Michelle Richardson

Michelle Richardson is the Vice President of Sales Performance Research. In her role, she is responsible for spearheading industry research initiatives, overseeing consulting and diagnostic services, and facilitating ROI measurement processes with partnering organizations. Michelle brings over 25 years of experience in sales and sales effectiveness functions through previously held roles in curriculum design, training implementation, and product development to the Sales Performance Research Center.
Michelle Richardson is the Vice President of Sales Performance Research. In her role, she is responsible for spearheading industry research initiatives, overseeing consulting and diagnostic services, and facilitating ROI measurement processes with partnering organizations. Michelle brings over 25 years of experience in sales and sales effectiveness functions through previously held roles in curriculum design, training implementation, and product development to the Sales Performance Research Center.

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