We’ve all had a productive sales meeting which was wrapped up by saying, "I’ll get back to you within the next couple of weeks." The problem with this begins when you return to your office with the intention of getting to work on a proposal. As you get back to work, several urgent messages are in your inbox, and you have a customer on the phone. You set aside the information you just gathered on your successful sales call, answer the phone, and immediately respond to your emails.

A few days later you uncover the information from that sales call and resolve to work on it as soon as you get a free minute. A few weeks later you stumble upon that folder, embarrassed, knowing any momentum gained at that successful sales call has now been eroded. Because of this you never make the effort to complete the proposal or give your prospect a call back.

This is exactly why Scheduling the Next Event is so critical. Instead of wrapping up a meeting by saying, "I’ll get back to you next week." Set a specific date, time, and agenda for what you will be covering. This gives you a deadline to have the proposal finished, and your prospect knows exactly when you are coming back.

In a recent blog Keith Rosen says to "Always, always, always have the next step mapped out and agreed upon in every selling situation, in every conversation with a prospect or a customer."

"This removes the toxic ambiguity that pollutes your mind and your thinking and robs you of time that’s better served focused on more meaningful and rewarding selling activities."

The main purposes of Griffin Hill’s Schedule the Next Event Play are to alleviate friction in the sales process, set the expectation of moving toward the close, set the agenda for future meetings, and truly advance the sales process.

When you schedule the next event, it completely eliminates the need for additional phone calls. With the event scheduled and the agenda set there is little need for additional contact. Even if you like to confirm every appointment, you can confirm with a voice message, or an e-mail; you do not have to make personal contact to know that the process is moving forward.