How to get your first meeting with a potential client

Getting a potential client to agree to a first conversation about Humand is still the hardest part of the whole process, and it’s not just a feeling shared by people who do this for a living. According to a Gartner survey published in May 2026, 69% of B2B buyers prefer to validate the information they’ve already researched with a real salesperson before making a decision.

That figure changes how you should think about your first message. You don’t need to convince someone who wants nothing to do with Humand, you need to show that talking to a real person is worth more than continuing to research alone.

The most common mistake: trying to explain everything upfront

The same mistake shows up in most first messages: presenting the whole of Humand, listing everything the platform can do, and closing by asking for a meeting to “show it all”. That kind of message doesn’t spark curiosity, it creates fatigue.

What works better is naming one specific problem that company is likely facing, scattered internal communication across several channels, difficulty reaching deskless employees, HR processes that are still manual, and leaving the full solution for the conversation, not the message.

Three simple strategies for that first contact

1. Personalise it with something real. Mention something specific about the company or the person: a recent announcement, a change in structure, a well-known challenge in their sector. Never something generic like “I saw your profile on LinkedIn”.
2. Name a problem, don’t list features. Instead of listing Humand’s modules, describe a specific situation that company could be going through right now.
3. Ask for something small. Don’t ask for a full demo straight away. A brief 15-minute call, or simply offering to connect them with the Humand team, is far easier to accept than a big commitment.

The smaller the ask, the easier it is for the other person to say yes.

If one channel doesn’t get a reply, try another

Sticking to a single channel reduces your chances of a response. McKinsey’s ninth B2B Pulse survey found that B2B buyers use an average of ten different channels throughout their buying process. The same report shows that market-leading companies are four times more likely to personalise each message individually than the rest of the market (20% versus 5%).

Switching between LinkedIn, email and a phone call isn’t persistence, it’s adapting to how that person already moves. Personalisation, not the number of messages, is what makes the difference.

Two common objections (and how to work through them)

• “I don’t have time.” This is rarely literal. It usually means the message didn’t make clear why that particular bit of time was worth spending. It helps to shrink the ask (from 30 minutes to 15) and remind them of the specific problem mentioned at the start.
• “We already use something similar.” This isn’t a dead end, it’s an opportunity. Responding with genuine curiosity (“what do you value most about that tool today?”) tends to open up more conversation than trying to argue the point straight away.

Checklist before sending your next message

• Does it mention something specific about this company or person, not something generic?
• Does it name a specific problem before mentioning Humand?
• Does it ask for something small, a brief chat or an introduction to the team, rather than a full demo?
• Is it built for more than one channel?
• Can it be read in under 20 seconds?

Getting a yes doesn’t mean you’re on your own

Whether you lead the meeting from start to finish or your role ends at opening the door, the goal of that first message is the same: getting the other person to want to keep the conversation going. What comes next, the meeting, the demo, closing the deal, you can take forward together with the Humand team.

If you’re a Humand Partner, this ties into what we’ve already covered on how to grow beyond your initial network: before thinking about the next channel, it’s worth checking whether the message you’re sending today actually gives the other person a real reason to say yes.