Getting that first appointment with a prospect isn’t easy.  What can branch managers, small business bankers, and others responsible for selling bank products and services do to increase their chances?  Grab the prospect’s attention with one good reason to meet and chances are MUCH better they’ll say “yes.”

Three points of advice for bankers:

• Find out something about the prospect – concerns, recent decisions or actions, anything that provides a clue to their thinking.  Use it to form a “warm-up” sentence like: “I’ve heard you’re planning to build a new building this year.”
• Play to the dark side – raise fear, uncertainty, and doubt.  Example: “We see interest rates rising in the next six months.  We think companies should fix rates now to avoid paying extra interest expense.”
• Ask a question – “We’ve been able to help other companies address this challenge.  I’m wondering whether you’d like to talk about how we might do the same for you starting in the next 30 days.”