Getting a prospective customer to agree to an initial meeting is a battle in and of itself. What happens going forward depends in large part on that first meeting. Meetings set by the seller flow differently than if the buyer requested to meet. If you set the meeting, odds are the product, service or solution you’re trying to sell wasn’t on the buyer’s radar screen. You’re trying to persuade a buyer to put something on their agenda that they hadn’t otherwise been considering.
“You need to connect. You need to inspire. And you need to drive action,” says Mike Schultz, president at Rain Group (rainsalestraining.com), a sales consulting and training company. He offers these steps for success with initial sales meetings:
Review the meeting premise. When you review the meeting premise, you confirm the previously-agreed-to reason for the meeting and the time available. Many meetings go awry when buyers don’t know why they’re there — or think they’re there for different reasons. This can quickly derail the meeting.
Share a tentative agenda. The power of suggestion works to guide the discussion without taking too heavy a hand in dictating the agenda. Say something like, “For the next 15 minutes I’ll walk you through how these innovations are affecting supply chains globally. Then we can spend the following 15 minutes or so talking. Exactly what we talk about will depend on what your thoughts are in the first part of the discussion, but often we get to whether it’s possible to apply any of the innovation, and what it might look like if you did.”
Include your buyer in the agenda setting. The more you understand, the more you can tailor your conversation to the buyer’s agenda and desires. Ask, “Before we get going, is there anything in particular that, by the time we’re done, you’d like to make sure we cover that will make this meeting worthwhile to you?”
Ask to be interrupted. Sure, you want to get your points across, but if you are interrupted, you will know the buyer is engaged. But don’t get trapped here: if the buyer is the only one asking questions and you just keep answering, the buyer has taken control of the discussion. Ask your own questions and make transitions where necessary to keep the conversation on track.
Tell a convincing story. This is where the magic happens. This is where you educate the buyer on new ideas and perspectives, inspire them to think differently, and drive them to take action.
Shift to inquiry and collaboration. Create discussion and collaboration. Examples of questions to ask include, “How would this work here?” “How would you compare this approach to what you’re doing now?” “What are the pluses and minuses as you see them?” “What could get in the way?”
When you follow these six steps, not only do you have more successful initial sales meetings that lead to real pipeline opportunities, you build relationships and set the table for collaboration — two essential elements to winning the sale.
