Sending a calendar invite without talking to a prospect first?

Hey Savages,


Recently I registered for a webinar that I knew I wasn't going to be able to attend but was hoping to get the recording to watch over the weekend.


Less than three hours after the webinar ended, I received a calendar invite for 30-min on Friday (the webinar was Wed afternoon) from a rep with this company to have a discovery call. I declined the meeting, and the rep immediately pushed it to another time on Friday. I again declined the meeting and then never heard back from the rep.


I wasn't trying to be a dick but felt the rep really hadn't earned my time on a Friday. Friday's are no meeting days for me as it's dedicated to focus-time to execute on all the meetings from the week (I'm on the management side btw).


My team uses blind calendar invites all the time when we are reengaging with a prospect that may be slipping on holding up their end of the bargain, but we never use it to land an initial discovery call.


So I'm interested to hear from you all, do you ever send blind calendar invites to prospects that you have never engaged with at all? If so, what are the results? Is this something my team should be trying?


Thanks in advance Savages! Have a great Friday!




🔎 Prospecting
💌 Cold Emailing
17
Chep
WR Officer
11
Bitcoin Adoption Specialist
Never sent blind calendar invites. It would be one thing for a prospect who has talked with me and then been ignoring me, but never to a prospect I haven't spoken with. I would've declined the meetings as well.
Salespreuner
Big Shot
0
Regional Sales Director
I'd never do too ! Rightly said @Chep 
Tres
Politicker
3
Account Executive
I've heard of this before, but never personally used it fully blind. If I've exchanged some emails with someone back and forth and they've gone dark, then I'll try it, but not cold cold. 
funcoupons
WR Officer
3
👑
Same here. Sending a totally blind invite feels inappropriate.
Salespreuner
Big Shot
0
Regional Sales Director
Big yes for it @funcoupons . Never done it. And won't too
SalesHead
Opinionated
0
Enterprise AE
Same here, always to re-engage, not engage. 

CuriousFox
WR Officer
3
🦊
Did you write a note along with the decline? That probably would have helped the rep.
SalesHead
Opinionated
0
Enterprise AE
I thought it would be good advice if it was an SDR but I opted not to when I saw on LinkedIn they were a middle-aged 'Senior Enterprise Rep' 
softwaresails
Politicker
2
Sales Manager
I've never done this. And have actually never heard of this. There is no way in hell I'd show up to a meeting from a blind calendar invitation where there was no engagement previously.
paddy
WR Officer
2
Director of Business Development
bold move
Bittersweet0326
Politicker
1
Digital Business Associate
I've never sent blind calendar invites. I could see it being a different way to get on a prospects radar after talking with them in the past.
Gottapumpthosenumbers
Opinionated
1
Biz Dev
I've never done it. I suppose anything is possible. Could you book a meeting from it? Sure. But it seems like this would be an exercise in futility, to me.
SLOride13
Good Citizen
1
VP of Sales & Customer Success
Blind calendar invites are a hard no for me.
CaneWolf
Politicker
1
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
I think it's fine if a) there is already a relationship in place b) they didn't respond to confirm times for something or c)they no-showed a meeting.


This shit is insane. Tell them to bounce.

SalesHead
Opinionated
1
Enterprise AE
UPDATE: He sent another one today for Monday afternoon. Guess the first two declines didn't get the hint across. Third times a charm? Nope....another decline but this time I'll Decline with a response 

Beans
Big Shot
1
Enterprise Account Executive
Ballsy.

Way to send a message of my time is more important than yours.


Indakitchenwhippin
Politicker
1
Channel Sales
If its straight cold, thats a great way to get a nasty email back and end any chances you have.

If you’ve been contacting and they go dark? Still a great way to get an unsubscribe email and ruin any chances. Sometimes prospects just need space.
Ace
Arsonist
1
CEO
Never sent any blind calendar invites unless I talked to them first. To me it feels like entering another person's house without asking.
stratman
Politicker
1
Sales Engineer
I would never send or acceptBlind calendar invites. For me, they are almost as bad as calling using a local number 
nomdeguerre
Executive
1
Account executive
Not cool... I would accept and then do a no show on them.
SalesHead
Opinionated
1
Enterprise AE
ooo cold blooded :) 
Smithy
Politicker
1
Director of Sales
Poor, poor salesmanship

I'd file it straight into the trash and I doubt I'd ever take that company seriously again
IanJ
Executive
0
Enterprise Business Development
If that person sells into IT or cybersecurity...that is a great way to get their whole domain banned.
Wolf
Opinionated
1
Commercial Account Executive
I have tried and sent blind calendar invites in the past. They actually work sometimes especially these days when people are so busy, they just click into the next meeting without really taking in what the meeting is or who it is from.
thebishop
Catalyst
0
Sr. Sales Executive
I'm with you. I don't get all the hate for this tactic on here... sure don't do it sleazily, but it's essentially eliminating a step in scheduling the meeting. 
SgtAE
WR Officer
1
AE
I think blind calendar invites are considered bad for the discovery calls, but if you're re-engaging a prospect and just need them to answer it can get a response.

It's better than BDR's who use the contact sales form to try and pitch..
breezyboiii
Politicker
1
Sales Boiii
bulk blind emails is like mass mail blasts. gets people more likely to decline contact then actually build rapport...
just my 2c anyway.
CCP
Opinionated
1
VP, Business Development
I know of people that send cold invites and it works for them but I've never done it myself. For me, there's a risk of burning my personal brand that I'm wary of. 
LordOfWar
Tycoon
1
Blow it up
That's gonna be a no from me dawg.
DataSlangah
Politicker
1
SAE
I think you end up wasting a ton of time sending blind invites.  Most likely you will get ghosted.
thebishop
Catalyst
1
Sr. Sales Executive
I actually love using them... under a couple of conditions: 

1. Use them if it's (in my mind) a highly qualified lead, not just a shotgun approach

2. Put that context into the blind calendar invite... i.e. "I understand that this may seem forward, but based on x,y,z initiatives and how we have helped other clients in similar situations, I thought it would be timely for us to connect. 

3. Give them the opportunity to decline or push... "feel free to decline if you disagree that this would be beneficial, or propose another time that works for you." 

I've landed several prospects this way that I couldn't reach otherwise. 
IanJ
Executive
1
Enterprise Business Development
Never for cold outreach. It's greasy and I've had a number of prospects tell me about how many they get. They hate them. Plus it makes it difficult for them to tell which ones are real and which ones are blind. 
If their calendar is heavy, they'll end up missing calls they actually booked sometimes. And then you're just hurting other salespeople who did it the right way.
CRAG112
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
I was blinded, literally, after reading this.

A sales person should know better. (Lord of the Rings voice)
SalesHead
Opinionated
0
Enterprise AE
People are funny
iworkinchonies
Politicker
0
Account Executive / Chronic degenerate
The absolute laziest of all sales tactics. Happens to me and my VP at least twice a month. Super annoying 

BellaLu
0
Sales Operations Manager
Don't do it! And surely, don't do it to me...DECLINE all day long. 

I'm the kind of gal that if I have a minute or need to blow off steam, I just might reply and tell you how inappropriate it was, right before I block you.
doodpurfect
Opinionated
0
Account Manager
Might have some one off success stories, but would never really even consider doing it -- feels way too pushy and forward
MrMotivation
Politicker
0
Sales
Well that is a dumb practice. Can't imagine why the rep would feel like they earned any right to send you calendar invite
Rigeyyy
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
I highly doubt this would work. People are already frustrated enough we “take time out of their busy day” getting a random invite? They will probably think it’s spam haha
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