Make the Meeting Count

Having been a sales leader for quite a long time, I’ve accompanied sales reps on lots of meetings and have joined them on as many conference calls. A question that I ask before every call or meeting is, “What is the goal for the meeting?” It’s always an interesting question to ask new reps because it’s something that they haven’t heard before. And it makes them think.

Sometimes I hear things like “This is a relationship call”, or “We’re just checking in with the customer." So I rephrase the question and ask, “What will make us high-five in the car when this meeting is over?” That will usually elicit the kind of response I’m looking for. Now the rep comes clean with why we’re really there.

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By the way, I’m not at all knocking the “relationship” meetings. Those can be very important. But is that really why the customer is meeting with you? Do they really just want to say “Hi.” I doubt it. Customers are busy and if they have agreed to meet with you, they have something on their mind. In other words, they have a goal for the meeting. Shouldn’t you?

The best thing you can do to prepare for a customer or prospect meeting is to ask them what they hope to accomplish by meeting with you. “But”, you say, “I’m the one that asked for the meeting. They are coming to the meeting to hear about our solution.” You think? Try asking a few days ahead of the meeting and you’ll find that the prospect has some pretty specific reasons for meeting with you. Find out what those are. People aren’t meeting with you so that you can sell them something. Sure, that’s what we’d all like to think. Nope, they’re meeting with you to learn something - something to help them or their company. And yes, maybe at the end of a sales process they’ll end up buying something from you. Even if they are coming to the meeting to hear all about your solution, ask them anyway. The input you get will be priceless and will help you prepare and present the information that is relevant to them.

Here’s an example of an email you can send ahead of a meeting that you’ve scheduled:

“Dear Prospect,

I look forward to our meeting next Thursday at 1:00cst at your office. Thank you in advance for your time.

I’ve attached a proposed agenda for your review. Let me know if it works for you.

Also, what are the specific items that you’d like to take away from our meeting? Please let me know so that we can make the most of our time together.”

Try it ahead of your next customer or prospect meeting and see what you get back. It may surprise you how quickly you get a response and what specific information they are looking for.

To learn more about preparing for meetings, check out my book, Click and Sell! Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Results. The email above is one of several examples that I provide in helping you prepare for great meetings. Other email strategies address “waking up” prospects when they “go dark”, and another for getting a 20% response rate (or greater) when following up on leads. To learn more about the book and where to find it, click HERE.