How to Get a Meeting With a Buyer Who Will Not Call You Back

Early in my career I sold beer for a brewery, and we were in every major store in our market except one: the biggest retailer in the country. Every store manager I talked to told me the same thing. They would love to carry us, but they did not decide. One person did, a buyer, and he was not returning calls.

So I kept calling him. I called often enough that I am sure he recognized my number. I even learned where he worked out, hoping I might run into him and get two minutes of his time. Then one day he finally picked up.

What happened when the buyer finally answered?

He told me I was persistent, which I took as a compliment even though I am not sure he meant it as one. Then he asked me whether I knew how many products were in his stores, and whether I thought he spent his time buying paper clips. His point was clear: to him, my product was a paper clip. It was one more item among thousands, and he had no reason to care about it.

I had one chance, so I did not talk about our beer. I talked about his stores. I told him he did not carry us, that we were a top seller in our category, and that we were in every one of his competitors. I told him our customers were loyal, and that when they could not find us in his store, they would go to a competitor to buy it and do the rest of their shopping there while they were at it.

There was a short pause. Then he said, “Get me your best sellers, every store, and I want a display.”

Why did that work?

Persistence got me the call, but it did not get me the yes. The yes came from changing the conversation from what I wanted to what he stood to lose. Buyers hear pitches all day. What they rarely hear is a clear, honest picture of the cost of saying no.

In my sales framework, LOCKS, that is the S: Stakes. LOCKS stands for Love the Product, Own Belief, Confidence in You, Kickoff Plan and Stakes, and it explains why a deal moves forward or gets stuck. When a buyer does not feel the stakes, there is no reason to act now. You can read the full framework on the LOCKS Framework page.

How do you show the cost of saying no without being pushy?

Keep it factual and keep it about them. You are not threatening anyone or exaggerating. You are helping the buyer see something they have not had time to notice. “Your competitors already carry this, and our customers are buying it there” is information, not pressure.

It also helps to be specific. General claims like “we can help you grow” are easy to ignore. Specific stakes, such as which customers, which competitor and which number, are hard to ignore because they are about the buyer’s own world.

When should you stop following up?

Persistence and respect can live together. If someone tells you clearly that they are not interested, thank them and ask whether you can check back in six months. If they simply have not responded, keep going, but make each touch useful. A good rule is that every follow-up should give the buyer a reason to reply that the last one did not. For more, see You Already Know Which Call You Are Avoiding.

What happens after the yes?

This is where the K in LOCKS comes in: the Kickoff Plan. A buyer who says yes wants to picture exactly what happens next: when product arrives, who calls them and what the first weeks look like. Have that answer ready before the meeting, because a confident next step protects the deal you just won.

This story, and the LOCKS framework behind it, is at the center of my sales keynote, You Are Capable of More Sales, along with the LAARC Method for handling objections. If your team is preparing for a kickoff, see How to Close More Deals and How to Increase Sales.