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.

Blog continued below . . .

If you like my blog, you’ll love my book, Click Send and Sell! Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Results.

If you have ever had a prospect “go dark” this book is for you. It has proven email techniques to “wake up” your prospect. While unconventional, these emails are authentic and professional, and almost always work. And , for only $3.99 you can put them to work for you today.

Also included are email techniques for following up on leads (these emails typically get a 20% response rate!) and for planning your next prospect meeting. Proven through years of use and honed for you, these emails will help you stand apart from the crowd.

The book is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.

No eReader? No problem! Click HERE to download and print the book in any format you want.

What are you waiting for? Those deals won’t wake up on their own!

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.

The #1 Meeting Mistake

I recently ran across a great discussion on LinkedIn that started with the question, “What's the # 1 Meeting Mistake Average Sales People Make? “ I chimed in about the need to prepare well, and of course referenced the chapter in my book that specifically addresses the topic. But there was another response that was so spot-on and so compelling that I asked the author if I could include it in my blog. She was happy to oblige. Here is Eileen Kent’s take on the #1 meeting mistake that average sales people make.

“Opening up a .ppt presentation at a first meeting. Can you imagine walking into your doctor's office with a little issue and the doctor sits down and shows you every procedure performed over the past week? It would be a nightmare, wouldn't it? ....And it is a nightmare when a new customer sees you open up your computer the minute you walk into their office. I dare you to walk into your next meeting with nothing in your hand but a business card. It will force you to get to know the person - as a person - rather than another "kill." I realize this is a numbers game and time is money, but one person who may not even buy from you may be the best referral you ever had, and every lead they bring you they've already pre-qualified.

Blog continued below...

If you like my blog, you’ll love my book, Click Send and Sell! Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Results.

If you have ever had a prospect “go dark” this book is for you. It has proven email techniques to “wake up” your prospect. While unconventional, these emails are authentic and professional, and almost always work. And , for only $3.99 you can put them to work for you today.

Also included are email techniques for following up on leads (this email typically gets a 20% response rate!) and for planning your next prospect meeting. Proven through years of use and honed for you, these emails will help you stand apart from the crowd.

The book is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.

No eReader? No problem! Click HERE to download and print the book in any format you want.

What are you waiting for? Those deals won’t wake up on their own!

This story is based on an experience I had as a customer. I was a bride seeking a DJ and because the music was probably the most important part (outside of the vows) to my husband and me, we wanted to interview multiple DJs until we found a fit. We knew exactly what we wanted, and it was very easy to "weed out the weak" in a matter of minutes.

The first guy started walking through his canned presentation the minute we walked in and when we got to the Daddy Daughter Dance, he slowed the presentation down and discussed the details of how he makes this special. I told him there would be no daddy daughter dance. He started to argue saying this is a tradition and that every bride dances with her daddy and that daddies dream of this big day...now why would I rob my daddy of this moment......I was trying my best to be discreet about the issue...but my husband finally interrupted and said, "I'm sorry, but as much as we'd love to have this daddy daughter dance, he's not here to dance....do you understand now?" Strike One.

DJ #2 took us in to a video room and tried to sell us his video services. We were specifically looking for a DJ. I told him to please "skip this part of the presentation" and he said, "I CAN'T - I ALWAYS include the video portion. I can't continue unless I show this to you first." Two hours later (well it felt like two hours) we finally got to the DJ presentation. Strike Two.

The third guy invited us to his home and said, "Hey, let's not talk about DJ stuff yet, let's talk about you two.... How did you meet? When did he ask you? How many people do you expect? What are your tastes in music? How important is music to your wedding? What is your budget? What kind of sound quality do you expect? What kind of dinner/music would you like? What is the mood of the wedding-party, romantic, casual, formal, a dance?" Needless to say, this was our guy, at double the price....and it was worth every penny. Home Run!

See the difference? Sit down and get to know your client. Stop presenting and start getting in touch with your client. Take note of salespeople who sell to you and learn from them.

A lot of people say that they won't walk into an appointment without doing their "homework." Okay, review their website, their news articles and their LinkedIn website, but you don't know the Person or their Story behind the business/decision. Don't assume you already know someone when you walk in. If you can't "wing it" a little, then you can't survive in this business anymore. We need to have a back pocket full of open ended questions. If we can't solve their issue, then let's get someone in there who can. The customer will never forget you for that.

In your next "cold" appointment (maybe someone you're willing to make a mistake with), do whatever background that you can online and talking to people and such, but then walk in with no brochures, no capabilities statement and no PowerPoint. Walk in with just your business card and see what happens. I bet with a list of simple open-ended questions, you'll get to the bottom of the client's needs and you'll be able to pinpoint an exact solution.....and you may make a new friend. Now, pull out your sales material and highlight only the items of interest today.” (Copyright Eileen Kent.)

Well said Eileen. Thanks so much for allowing me to share your thoughts on my blog!

Eileen’s credentials:
Eileen Kent
Fedmarket.com
National Seminar Leader/Keynote
Author of "On the Sales Firing Line"

NOTES

I have a new Facebook fan page for my book, Click ‘Send’ and Sell. You can find it by clicking HERE. Be sure to visit and when you're there, click "Like" to immediately receive a coupon lowering the price of my book to only $2.99!

There were broken links for my Twitter account on my website and email signatures. It has since been fixed. You can follow me on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Last week I posted a poll that asked: “The US, Canada and UK have the highest blog readership. The fourth largest country by readership is:” Thanks for taking the time to vote. Most of you, 71%, guessed India. The country with the 4th highest readership is Russia! And it is very close behind the UK!