What you'll learn
By the end of this lesson you can explain why a single meeting is a weak signal in an enterprise account, write your own definition of an inroad, and change what your team counts.
What a meeting tells you
A meeting tells you that one person agreed to give you half an hour. That is worth having. It does not tell you that the company has a problem it has decided to solve, that this person has a say in solving it, or that anyone else there knows you exist.
In a small company the gap does not matter much. The person in the meeting is often the owner, and a yes from them is a yes from the business. In a large company a purchase is agreed by a group: someone who decides, someone who holds the budget, someone who checks the technical fit, someone who will live with the result, and usually finance and procurement. Your meeting was with one of them, and you may not yet know which.
Three ways a single meeting dies
The polite meeting. The person was curious, or found it hard to say no. They listen, say it was interesting, and nothing follows. They were never going to carry it further.
The stranded champion. The person likes what they heard and means to act. Back at their desk they have to explain it to colleagues who were not there, in their own words, against other priorities. Most cannot, and the idea fades without anyone deciding against it.
The departure. Your contact changes role, leaves, or is pulled onto another project. If they were your only conversation in the company, the account goes back to zero.
None of these is a failed meeting. Each one is a single thread, and single threads break.
What an inroad is
An inroad is a position inside an account that survives the loss of any one person. A working definition has three parts:
- More than one person. Two-way conversations with at least two people who have a part in the decision, in different roles.
- A problem they have named. Someone at the company has described the problem in their own words, not just listened to yours.
- A next step that involves someone new. The next conversation is dated and adds a person who was not in the last one.
When all three are true, the account is open. You have several sources of information, more than one person who can speak for you internally, and a reason for the conversation to continue.
Your own definition can be stricter. Some teams require one of the people to be the decision maker or the budget owner. What matters is that it is written down, that everyone uses the same one, and that a single meeting does not meet it.
The same week, counted two ways
Take two sellers at the end of a month.
| Seller A | Seller B | |
|---|---|---|
| First meetings held | 10 | 4 |
| Companies those meetings were in | 10 | 3 |
| Accounts with two or more people in conversation | 0 | 2 |
| Accounts with a dated next step involving someone new | 1 | 2 |
Counted in meetings, A is far ahead. Counted in accounts, B has two open and A has none. A will need ten more first meetings next month to stand still. B's next month is spent on second and third conversations in companies that already know them.
This example is illustrative, not data. The point is the direction: the measure you choose decides which seller's behaviour you get more of.
What to count instead
Keep counting first meetings. Add three numbers beside them, per account:
- People engaged: how many people at the company you have had a two-way exchange with in the last 30 days.
- Roles covered: which roles in the decision those people hold.
- Next step: whether there is a dated one, and whether it includes someone new.
An account with one person engaged is at risk, however good the meeting was. An account with three people engaged across two roles is an inroad even if no formal meeting has taken place yet.
What changes in the first meeting
If the goal is an inroad, the first meeting has a different job. You are no longer trying to cover everything and close for a proposal. You are trying to leave with three things:
- The problem in the buyer's words.
- The names of the other people it affects.
- Agreement on a next conversation that includes at least one of them.
The question that gets you there is simple, and you should ask it in every first meeting: "Who else is affected by this, and would it help if I spoke with them directly?" The rest of this course covers the first call, the second and third conversations, and how to reach the next person.
Key takeaways
- A meeting is one person's half hour. It says little about the company.
- An inroad is more than one person, a problem they have named and a next step with someone new.
- Count people engaged, roles covered and next steps for every account.
Exercise (20 minutes)
- List every first meeting your team held in the last 60 days.
- Next to each, write the number of people at that company you have spoken with since.
- Mark the ones where the answer is still one. For each, write the name or role of a second person to reach this week.
- Write your own three-line definition of an inroad and share it with the team.
Why this works on named accounts
Put it into practice
Buying Committee Mapper
Map the people behind a decision by role, stance and influence, and see who to approach next. Runs in your browser.
Appointment Setting Script for Enterprise Accounts
For SDRs, founders and account executives calling into large companies.
You leave with a pre-call card, a call script, replies to seven responses and scripts for the second and third conversation.
The Forwardable Note: Get Introduced Inside an Account
For sellers with one friendly contact in an account and nobody else.
You leave with the ask, a note your contact can forward in ten seconds and the thank-you that keeps them involved.
When One Door Doesn't Open: Finding the Next Stakeholder
For sellers stuck on one silent contact in an account worth winning.
You leave with five other doors into the same company, a line for each and a rule for doing it without going behind anyone's back.