Here are some general guidelines when having a first call with a potential customer:
Keep the meeting under 30 minutes.
Practice before the meeting.
Be focused on your message and disciplined to ask hard questions.
Here’s a couple examples of how these types of calls typically go:
Example 1
2-3 min. Introductions. Talk about your company and product; get an understanding of the person’s role in the company.
5-7 min. Question asking (sample pre-questions below - choose the questions that are most relevant for your customer and industry that will make them call out the pain point you assume they have).
“Today, I am going to show you some stuff that we have been working on. I recognize that you are an industry expert in this area. We have been working on some things that we think are highly relevant to your type of function at company XYZ. Before we jump into that, do you mind if I ask you about 5 minutes of questions to get a better context for what you are doing?
In the context of [pain point], how are you doing that today? What is that process like?
Have you been thinking about issue XYZ? Help me understand some context so that when I talk about my product, I can understand how to make that relevant to you.
We have been thinking about [solution]. Is this something relevant to what you are thinking about?”
10 min. Your Pitch. Your presentation with 6-9 slides that focuses on the problem, solution and benefit. Start with the CURRENT NOTs. Why today is broken. Challenger sale. Start with what's not.
Close your laptop.
“That’s the overview I wanted to share with you today about our company.”
5 min: Post Pitch Questions (Again choose the questions that are most relevant for your customer and industry that will make them call out the pain point you assume they have).
What do you think about what we have created? Is it awesome? Or, is it not really relevant to you?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how valuable is what we have created?
On a scale of 1 to 10, what would be your willingness to purchase something like this if it was available today? Is it a function of how much it costs? Is there a particular price point you would purchase it at? Or, are there some key things you need to see in order to purchase this product? What would be those key things?
How much money would you pay for that? A lot or a little? What is a lot?
How much priority would that take inside your organization?
Right now, we are looking for companies that are early adopters to partner with us. Is your company an early adopter?
Please create a call script template using the examples and questions outlined to guide you.
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Pre-Pitch Questions To Ask
Criteria
Determine 5 key questions you want to ask at the meeting / call that will help you articulate and define your pain, solution and benefit and deepen understanding of target market.
Sample Questions
Problems
1. What major problems are you trying to solve?
2. How do you quantify these problems?
3. By when do you need to solve these problems?
4. Who is affected by these problems?
5. Who owns solving these problems?
6. How long have you had these problems?
7. Have you tried to solve these problems in some other way? What was the result?
Anticipated Benefits
1. What does success look like?
2. How will you be able to measure or quantify success?
3. Do you have specific lagging or leading KPIs you intend to use?
4. Who will notice the benefits?
Solutions
1. What do you think a solution looks like? What kind of features does it have?
2. Who would use the solution?
3. When/ how often would they use it?
4. How would they use it? At work, on the road, at home?