Getting a first meeting with a specific buyer
Get 15 minutes with someone who could buy what you sell, at an account you care about, when cold email and LinkedIn haven't worked.
To get a first meeting with a buyer who ignores cold email, offer them a fee for a short call and say plainly what it's about. Instant Expert sends that paid invitation to the buyer's work email, and you pay only if they book. It works for a short list of high-value accounts, not for volume prospecting.
How people usually do it
Sales teams pull contacts from Apollo or ZoomInfo, run email and LinkedIn sequences, have SDRs call, and ask for warm intros.
Where it breaks
- The buyers you most want are the ones getting the most sequences, so yours looks like all the others.
- Each follow-up asks for their time again and offers them nothing for it.
- Warm intros only exist for accounts where someone you know knows someone.
- For a strategic account, months of ignored touches can cost more than a single paid meeting.
How it works with Instant Expert
- 1
Pick the accounts, then the person at each.
Paste LinkedIn URLs of the buyers you want, or describe the role at the companies on your list, like "VP of Finance at Series B SaaS companies in New York".
- 2
Be upfront that it's a sales conversation.
Say what you sell, why you think it's relevant to them, and that you want their reaction in 15 minutes. People who accept on those terms are real prospects; disguising a pitch as research wastes the fee and the relationship.
- 3
Offer a fee per meeting and cap the number of meetings.
Use a 15-minute call and an offer that's worth a senior person's time. The cap means you never pay for more meetings than you planned. Each invitation is a single email you approve; we don't run sequences.
- 4
Take the meeting and agree on next steps.
Both of you get a calendar invite with the video link. If they don't join, you get a full refund or can pick a new time. Anything after the first call is between you and them.
What it costs
Worked example
You invite 20 finance leaders at target accounts to a 15-minute call at $150 each, capped at 3 meetings ($450).
- Each buyer who books receives
- $120
- Instant Expert's fee (20%), per meeting
- $30
- Most you can pay (3 meetings)
- $450
- If nobody books, you pay
- $0
After 3 buyers book, the other invitations close. Decide the offer by what a first meeting at these accounts is worth to you, not by what feels normal for a cold email.
When this isn't the right tool
Use something else when:
- Your buyers work somewhere that bars accepting payments from vendors, like government agencies and many large enterprises and hospitals. Many of them will decline, and they should.
- You're prospecting at volume. A contact finder and a sequencer cost cents per contact; this costs a real fee per meeting.
- Your deal size can't pay back the fee. If a closed deal is worth less than a few meetings' cost, this doesn't add up.
- The buyer is already looking. Inbound, a demo request or a partner referral will be cheaper.
Questions
Is it OK to pay a prospect for a sales meeting?
It can be, if you're open about it. Say it's a sales conversation and let them decide. Some companies don't allow employees to accept payments from vendors, and government employees usually can't, so expect those people to decline.
How much should I offer a buyer for a first meeting?
Price it against what the account is worth to you. Each person comes with a suggested price you can change, down to $5, and you pay only if they book. A low offer to a senior buyer is more likely to be ignored.
Will this look like spam to the buyer?
Each invitation is one email with your note and the offer, sent only after you approve it, followed by up to two reminders. We don't run sequences or send bulk email, and anyone who unsubscribes isn't emailed again.
Related
- Instant Expert vs contact finders (Apollo, RocketReach, Hunter)Buying an email address and writing yourself versus paying only for the reply.
- Instant Expert vs LinkedIn InMail and Sales NavigatorA free message inside LinkedIn versus a paid offer in the person's work inbox.
- Cold outreach to executives: channels, messages and follow-up that respect their timeHow to approach senior people cold: when to contact the executive, how to research them, which channel to use, what to say, and the CAN-SPAM rules to follow.
- Sales prospecting: how to find, qualify and research B2B accountsA practical guide to B2B sales prospecting research: define who to look for, build and filter an account list, find the right person and prepare each contact.
- How Instant Expert works and what it costsThe full pricing rules, refunds and who you can reach.
- Expert directoryBrowse examples of the people you can reach, by specialty.
Find the first five people to talk to.
Searching is free, and nothing is sent or charged until you approve it.