Interesting research from Forrester about why people don't want to meet with salespeople.

Two statistics that Forrester pull out is that

1.  Only 20% of salespeople create value, whatever that is.  The term "value", I've written before is relative.  What you think and I think of value may well and I bet different things.  I may thing a plastic bag is of value, where as you think a Rolls Royce car.

2.  Only 1 in 4 people get a next action from that meeting.

These stats are based on 100 outbound calls.

From the diagram attached the sales people were knowledgeable about their products, but were not knowledgeable about the clients industry, they were not prepared for the questions that the client wanted to ask, they had no knowledge about the business issues and could not relate to the clients role.

Now here's a thing.  Add to all that, the fact the meeting was probably pushed on the client as legacy cold calling was used.  It's all a bit of a car crash.

I'm not sure you need to buy Forrester's sales methodology surely you get your salespeople to look up the company they are going to see and you train them on the verticals business issues.  I thought this was basic "first meeting excellence".

Or of course you can weave social into the mix.  A social selling mindset by its very nature will force the sales people to be leaders in their market and be in touch with the business issues.  Share and write about the issues and insights that impact customers and be able to share case studies.

Let's not forget a prospect contacted through legacy methods will be right at the start of the process and you will have to push them (often unwillingly) along through the pipe.  Where as in social selling the client will self educate and therefore you should have them further along the business process.  Therefore you are more likely to get a next action from the meeting.