Proven methods to mitigate demo no-shows with prospects.
The No-Show for Demo is a common phenomenon. Not only am I missing out on commission from them not showing up, but I am wasting AE and SE’s time and losing credibility.
Here is a list of proposals on how to avoid those No-Show
- A friendly reminder call in the morning. "Hey name, this is your name calling from your company, just making sure that today at time still works for you." In case they do answer this call remind them about what the meeting is. With Google calendar, you can also automate a reminder for the morning before the meeting (Setting remainder)
- Get them to accept the calendar invite on the call. “If you don’t mind, can you just check to make sure you got that invite and accept it so we can block that time off our calendar for you?
- Better qualification: This answer is likely not what you want to hear, but you need to qualify better. Don’t pass an opportunity to AEs until you knew the Budget, Authority, the Need, and Timeline. Spend 10-15min on the phone asking hard questions.
- Set placeholders on calendars if the prospect is unsure if a time in the future works. Ask them “would there be any reason you wouldn’t be able to make this next call?” Could even go deeper and ask “would there be someone who could take the
call in your absence?”
- The Value of the demo. Make it that there is some personal value to attending the demo. “If you attend I can give you a free trial” or “ I would like to get your feedback on our solution”
- Shorten times, Some people enjoy filling up their calendars and following up. But those are not the best converting. The intent and interest are functions of times. Make sure you shorten the time from finding a lead to a call (best is instant)
and if possible get a demo as soon as possible.