Are you finding it difficult to fill your calendar with high-quality meetings? You’re not alone. Many sales professionals struggle with how to close for a meeting, and it often comes down to one surprising factor—the way we label our sales stages.

Yes, setting clear goals is crucial in sales. We focus heavily on tracking our progress through defined sales stages, which helps keep us accountable. But here’s where the problem begins:

One of the most common early sales stages is simply called “Meeting.” And because we’re trained to hit our goals, we work relentlessly to book meetings—sometimes before the timing is right. This can lead to premature closes, disengaged prospects, and meetings that don’t move the deal forward.

A Simple Fix: Change the First Sales Stage

If you want to close for a meeting more successfully, try renaming your first sales stage to “Positive Response” instead of “Meeting.”

Why? Because the first goal of outreach shouldn’t be to secure a meeting—it should be to spark engagement. If we push for a meeting too early, we risk forcing prospects into conversations they aren’t ready for.

By shifting the goal to simply receiving a positive response, you create a smoother path toward an actual, productive meeting.

How This Change Improves Your Close Rate

1. It aligns with natural buyer psychology. People don’t like being forced into commitments too soon. Getting a small “yes” first builds momentum.
2. It makes prospecting feel less pushy. Instead of asking for a time slot right away, you’re gauging interest and establishing trust.
3. It sets up a stronger, more qualified meeting. Once a prospect has responded positively, it becomes much easier to close for a meeting at the right time.

Try This on Your Next Outreach

Instead of pushing for a meeting right away, shift your mindset. Focus on getting a positive response first—then closing for a meeting will feel like the next natural step rather than a forced ask.

A simple tweak, but one that can transform your sales pipeline.

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Not sure what to do when your customer suddenly needs to leave a meeting early?

The answer is surprisingly simple: just schedule another meeting.

Don’t Rush—Reschedule the Meeting

It happens all the time. A customer schedules 30 minutes with you, but then a last-minute fire drill or emergency forces them to cut the meeting short. Many salespeople would react by cramming the entire meeting into the remaining time. They will barrel through their carefully prepared content – talking fast, skipping key points, and ultimately sacrificing the quality of the conversation.

But here’s a better approach you can try: Pause and reschedule.

Why Rescheduling is the Right Move

Instead of rushing through critical information when a prospect needs to leave a meeting early, say something like:

“I know we had 30 minutes scheduled, and I want to make sure we give this conversation the time it deserves. Would it make sense to set up another time to continue?”

This approach does two things:

1. Maintains your value – You’re signaling that your time is important and that the conversation is worth prioritizing.
2. Opens the door for flexibility – In some cases, the customer may even push back their next meeting in order to continue yours.

Turn an Interruption into an Opportunity

Rather than allowing unexpected time crunches to leave you feeling frustrated or flustered, view a prospect’s early exit as a chance to secure additional time on your their calendar. By handling the situation with confidence and professionalism, you not only preserve the conversation but also reinforce your credibility.

Next time a meeting gets cut short, don’t scramble—reschedule.

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Boost Your Sales Credibility: Close for End-User Access

Do you want your customers to take your opinion seriously? Establishing sales credibility is crucial in the competitive landscape of sales. It’s not enough to just present your product or service; you need to demonstrate that your opinions are worth considering.

One way to enhance your sales credibility is to start closing for access to your customers’ end users. Why? Because having direct feedback from end users allows you to provide insights that truly matter.

As sales representatives, we sometimes struggle to appear credible and thoughtful while trying to persuade our prospects to consider our products and services. We know how desperate we can be to earn that trust and respect. But there’s a way to naturally bolster your sales credibility: by leveraging the voices of the actual users who will be impacted by your offerings.

Next time you find yourself in a situation where you’re trying to prove the seriousness of your claims, try closing for access to end users. By doing so, you can gather genuine opinions on how their workflow would be affected by what you’re selling. This approach not only enhances your understanding of their needs but also strengthens your position as a knowledgeable and credible advisor.

When you attend meetings armed with insights from end users, you can speak on their behalf. This empowers you to present a much stronger opinion, one that’s harder to dismiss. By channeling the authentic experiences and feedback of end users, you build a solid foundation of trust with your customers, which is key to establishing sales credibility.

Enhancing sales credibility isn’t just about showcasing your product’s features or benefits. It’s about demonstrating that you understand the real-world impact on end users. Closing for access to end users enables you to provide valuable, credible insights that resonate with your customers. So, why not give it a try and see the difference it makes in your sales interactions?

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Still not sure if you have a deal champion as you navigate the sales process? The best way for you to find out is simple—just ask them.

A deal champion isn’t created during your sales process. They already exist within the organization! As natural influencers in their company, they are capable of navigating the company’s internal dynamics, breaking down barriers, and advocating for change. And those capabilities existed long before you labeled them as a champion.

But how do you know if the person you are working with truly has that level of influence in their organization?

Every deal champion must be able to do two very important things:

1. Break the rules when necessary – They can find ways around obstacles, whether that is by cutting through red tape or by making exceptions to standard processes.
2. Influence those who disagree – They don’t just support your solution; they will actively persuade others to see its value, even in the face of resistance – or an anti-champion.

To confirm whether your point of contact is a true deal champion, try using these two closing questions:

-“Are you going to work as hard as I’m about to work at my company to find a home for this solution at your company?”
–“If this gets stuck, will you unstick it for us?”

If you get two confident yeses, congratulations—you have a champion who is willing to push your solution forward. Land at a “no”? Well, you may need to identify someone with greater influence.

Having a true deal champion in your corner can be the difference between a stalled deal and a successful close. So don’t leave it to chance—ask the right questions and secure your champion early in the process.

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Does it look like your next meeting is getting a little out of control? Well, remember: attendance before participation. 

You should feel good when your prospect is inviting lots of people to your meeting because it means there’s some level of interest. But be careful because early discovery calls that they have too many attendees can be very difficult to manage and to close. So why not do what I do? 

If there are people in a meeting that you did not know were going to attend, spend time in the beginning of the meeting to get their information, their contact, their role, and their reason for attendance. Even if this chews up a lot of my meeting, I’d rather invest the beginning of it to know who everybody is before I start talking about things they may or may not actually want. 

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How Elevator Pitch Length Impacts Effectiveness

Having trouble creating urgency in your pitch, Closer? It might not be what you’re saying—it might be how long you’re taking to say it.

A great pitch isn’t just about the words you use. It’s also about length—how quickly you can grab attention and make an impact. If your pitch drags on for ages, you will most certainly lose your audience before they ever feel the urgency to take action.

The Power of a Short, Transformative Pitch

Think about Nike’s legendary slogan: Just do it.

They could have said, “We are the world’s leading manufacturer of athletic footwear,” but they didn’t. That’s because the best pitches aren’t descriptive—they’re transformative.

Your pitch should quickly create an emotional connection and show your prospect what their world looks like after they choose your solution.

Finding the Right Elevator Pitch Length

So, how long should your pitch be? Keep it under 30 seconds. Anything longer, and you risk losing engagement.

Here’s how to refine your elevator pitch length:

Lead with emotion: Use words that evoke feelings and transformation, not just facts.
Be clear, not clever: Don’t make people work to understand what you do.
Cut the fluff: Remove unnecessary words and get straight to the value.

Example of an Effective Pitch

Instead of:
“We help companies optimize workflow efficiency with AI-driven automation solutions that increase productivity by 25%.”

Try:
“You can eliminate wasted time in your workflow so your team can focus on what really matters—without extra effort.”

Final Thoughts

The right elevator pitch length makes all the difference. Keep it short, emotional, and transformative. The faster you create urgency, the more likely your audience is to take action.

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Ever wonder how to do referral selling when you don’t even have a referral to start with? The answer is starting with non-traditional buyers. 

The truth is, we spend so much time thinking about our buyer that we create all of our messaging for that buyer. Sometimes if we want to reach that buyer, the best way to do it is not with more people who agree: it’s with more people who disagree. 

If I don’t have a referral, I try to find one. But, I don’t look in the places you might expect. Instead, I try to find a referral at a title slightly higher than my buyer and also slightly to the left or right of my buyer. So if I’m calling someone who reports to a director of IT, then I might reach out and cold call a VP of marketing. Or maybe I’d look to find a head of product.

Why? Because the heat of opinions from people to the left and right of my buyer could absolutely influence them. Sometimes the influence is even greater than their boss. Because if their boss says, “You should talk to this guy,” that that person only has to say, “Eh, I talked to him last week. It’s all set.” But if it comes from a VP of marketing or a head of product, they probably need to do their due diligence on this before they say it’s all set.

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Are your customers still unsure of how you’re different from your competitors?

The answer is staring them right in the face—it’s you.

The Power of Personal Alignment

There are countless ways to position against competitors—product features, pricing, service levels, and more. But one of the most unique and underutilized differentiators is your own professional choice to work where you do.

You could have chosen to work for any company in your industry, but you didn’t. You chose this one. That speaks volumes about the value and credibility of your company.

Why Your Career Choice Matters to Customers

Customers are often looking for reassurance. They want to know why your solution is worth their investment, and more importantly, why they should trust you.

By sharing your career journey—why you chose to work where you do—you give them an inside look at what sets your company apart. This isn’t about boasting; it’s about demonstrating confidence in the value your company brings.

How to Use This in Sales Conversations

Instead of solely focusing on product differentiation, try integrating your personal experience into the conversation:

• “Before we dive into our solution, let me share why I chose to work here. When I was evaluating companies in this space, I saw that [your company] truly stood out because…”
• “One of the reasons I believe so strongly in what we offer is that I could have worked for any of our competitors—but I didn’t. Here’s why…”

When you position yourself as a knowledgeable and credible advocate for your company, you’re doing more than selling a product—you’re selling confidence.

So the next time a customer is comparing you to the competition, remind them: The difference isn’t just in the product. It’s in the people behind it—and that includes you.

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Would you like to know how to get someone to give you even more information in detail the next time you talk to them? 

Just remember, ignorance is bliss. 

It’s very quick for us to say things like, “I get it,” or “I understand,” or “Makes sense.” We’re engaged with someone to let ’em know that we hear them. But in reality, all that does is get them to stop talking. So why don’t do what I do? 

Say things like “I don’t understand,” or “I don’t know what that means,” instead of nodding your head. Then watch the person you’re talking to give you even more detail and more color, giving you the information you need to advance the relationship.

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Still not certain if the customer is thinking of buying from you? Knowing how to qualify a lead in sales can help you identify genuine interest and move the sales process forward.

One of the key elements in understanding how to qualify a lead in sales is recognizing buying signals. We often think that when prospects nod their heads in approval and acknowledgment, they understand what we’re saying. However, people typically do this even when they don’t fully understand but don’t want to appear foolish.

The truth is, one of the best buying signals is when a prospect asks you to repeat something. It doesn’t mean that what you said was over their heads. It means that what you said was interesting enough for them to want it repeated because they think it might be something they want to pursue.

So, how to qualify a lead in sales effectively? Instead of just explaining things when someone asks for repetition, spend some time on that topic. Find out why they want it repeated or what they thought you might have said. Any way you slice it, that confusion probably indicates interest.

Here’s a tip: When a prospect asks for clarification, consider it a golden opportunity. Dive deeper into the topic and ask follow-up questions to gauge their level of interest. For example, you might say, “I noticed you asked for clarification on that point. Is there something specific you’re looking to achieve?” This approach not only addresses their confusion but also helps you understand their needs and priorities better.

Another strategy is to encourage open communication. Let your prospects know that it’s okay to ask questions and seek clarification. This builds trust and demonstrates that you’re genuinely interested in helping them find the best solution.

Learning how to qualify a lead in sales involves recognizing and responding to key buying signals, such as when a prospect asks for repetition. By engaging with your prospects and addressing their concerns, you can build stronger relationships and move closer to closing the deal. So, next time a prospect asks you to repeat something, embrace it as a sign of interest and take the opportunity to qualify the lead effectively.

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