Smashmouth B2B Blog: Sales & Marketing Demand Gen

Lead Generation Tips - Don't Be An Expert

  

Tweet  

  

  

 delicious  

  

There was a LinkedIn Question today that I answered. It is such a valuable tip, I thought I would cross post it here.

Question: If the goal of a call is lead generation and appointment setting for my sales engineer, how should I handle a prospect when they ask a tough technical question I can't answer?

Answer: First, don't let the question drag you into a black hole or throw you off your game. Use the question as an opportunity to get what you are looking for -- a meeting.

A prospect challenging you with a technical question is a perfect segue to asking for the meeting. I'll give you an over-simplified example:

1. Know it's the right prospect (by title, by some basic questions, by what they say)
2. Once you know they are the right prospect, and you've given them a very high level pitch, then focus on the appointment, not the sales pitch
3. The prospect then asks some technical question you can't answer. "Does your solution support XYZ (technical buzzwords here)?"
4. Reply: "I'm somewhat sure we do, but I would rather you get a solid answer. The right person to talk to is Mike. He can address all your technical issues. Are you available for a short call to talk with him?"

Don't let the prospect drive you into a place you can't recover from. Maintain control of the call, and stay on target. It's an opportunity, not an obstacle. As Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, says about lead generation: "Stop complaining, take action now."

What other appointment setting tips do you have? Do you have something that unlocks an executive's door? Want me to write on a specific topic? Leave a comment