Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here.

Today’s edition only takes 2 minutes.

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No-shows are the bain of every seller's existence.

Yet you can reduce the chance of no-shows with a few simple tricks:

• Wherever the problem is, go one step earlier
• Keep momentum
• 99% invisible
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Wherever the problem is, go one step earlier

How often do you speak to a former colleague/distant relative/acquaintance and agree to meet in two months?

Only for the day to arrive, and you're desperately searching for a reason to cancel.

The problem is that you didn't really want to meet up with that person. By pushing the meetup far into the future, it felt unimportant.

Imagine the same idea in sales.

You set meetings weeks in advance with buyers who aren't overly interested. And they no-show.

Reduce this effect by booking the meeting as soon as possible. If you speak in the morning, ask for a meeting that afternoon. If it's a Tuesday, request for a meeting on Thursday.

It has two effects:

1. Test the buyer's desire. Buyers either have burning problems to solve or everything else that fades into the background. There is no in-between.
2. Keep momentum. In the moment, the buyer may value solving the problem, but 1-2-3 weeks later, new priorities take over. Time kills all deals.

Solution: Book the next step as soon as reasonable.

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Keep momentum

As above, a no-show begins at the end of the previous interaction.

In 2022, my team found that ~40% of qualified "demo" calls that ended without BAMFAMing were lost, without additional contact.

By booking the next meeting and selling the value of the meeting, you'll keep the momentum, make it frictionless to turn up and reduce your chance of no-shows.

If you don't BAMFAM and sell the meeting, you'll lose many great opportunities due to a lack of momentum.

Solution: BAMFAM and sell the value

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99% Invisible calendar invites

The best architecture aims to be "99% invisible." This means people don't notice it. It just works.

Think about the height of a standard doorway in Japan (180cm) compared to that of a standard doorway in The Netherlands (203cm).

This is because an average male height is 170cm in Japan compared to 183cm in The Netherlands.

Your calendar invites should follow 99% invisible standards.

If your buyers ever look at the invite and think:

• Who is this with?
• Why am I turning up to this?
• What is this calendar invite all about?

You have failed. Answer all three questions before they are asked.

A strong naming convention is something like:

And always include a short agenda. For discovery calls, I send:

For demo calls, I use:

Solution: Send 99% Invisible calendar invites
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It's never a guarantee, but if you can:

• Book the next meeting as soon as reasonable
• BAMFAM and sell the value
• Create a 99% invisible calendar invite

You'll reduce your no-shows.

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Let me know:

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Until next week,
Scott Cowley

PS If you want to see how/if I can help with your sales efforts, consider Booking a Call.

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