Pull the sale towards you

Think about some different meeting scenarios for a moment.

You confirm an appointment with a potential client, Jack.

The meeting is scheduled for next Thursday at 2 pm, and you will see three people: Jack, the Head of Operations (your ‘go to’ person), plus Jane, the Director of XYZ, and Barry, the Head of Finance.

Possible scenarios:

You turn up at the 2 pm meeting, all prepared and expecting to engage with and present to those three people. Yet only Jack turns up. The other key people, Jane and Barry, don’t make it.

You are now left to present to just one person, Jack, who you hope will be completely sold on your solution. Now, Jack has become your business ambassador, entrusted with the enormous task of selling to Jane, Barry, and others in his organization, to hopefully feel equipped to answer any questions, be clear around objections, and aptly reinforce evidence of your solution. Consequently, Jack has become an extension of your business – where he needs to be able to uncover issues, explain the USP, and show and convey the value.

Frankly, it’s unlikely. Even at best and as much your ‘go-to person, Jack’ loves you, think how long it takes for someone to truly know your business.
Put simply, you need those other two decision makers/influencers in the meeting.

Or:

You turn up, and they announce they no longer have an hour, just 20 minutes. Your anticipated window has suddenly narrowed. So, despite your best intention to go in ‘listening, asking questions, being present and collaborating,’ what might happen is you ask a question, they respond and possibly ask you questions in return, which you enthusiastically answer, somehow deviating from your own exploratory questions of getting a complete understanding of their business. And before you know it, you are in full ‘show and tell’ mode as you eagerly answer their questions. Unwittingly, under the time pressure, you have fallen into the ole ‘spray and pray’ or ‘show up and throw up’ manner to get across all those reasons why they should do business with you.

Or:

The meeting happens at 2 pm, all three clients are there. For whatever reason, you feel the meeting didn’t quite cover everything, plus a few unexpected curve balls came up. End of the meeting, the client suggests you call next week. Which you do, but they don’t answer. You continue calling, and they remain unresponsive. You wonder, are they interested yet unavailable? Not interested and avoiding you?

The common problem with all these scenarios is that we are ‘waiting’ for and relying on the meeting to sell, pitch, and show our worth – to demonstrate how we are the Authority. All the eggs are in that one basket. The pressure to perform and nail it at that meeting is massive.

However, consider them recognising you and your potential solution as ideal before the meeting: having them see you as the Authority in your field, as the Trusted Advisor with evidence how your business regularly or recently addressed similar issues that demonstrate its Authority and subject matter expertise. When that happens, you would go into the meeting with them already SOLD on you.

You would, in fact, be bringing the sale forward.

When clients perceive the value, they don’t cancel a meeting – if anything, the meeting time gets extended.

And the meeting conversation will ‘start’ at a different level, as you’ll have established a relationship with all the leading players – they’ll already ‘know’ you.

Also, you will no longer be justifying that you deserve a seat at the table; you are now closer to being endorsed as the right solution. So, your internal certainty level heightens. After all, the client is buying into your certainty and confidence.

Ok, so how do you sell beforehand?

Part of your ‘meeting prep’ would involve a series of ‘due diligence’. I would do this immediately after the meeting has been agreed upon or even before the call that scheduled the meeting.

How was the meeting organised?  Did I do a decent ‘discovery’ to set up this meeting? Or am I leaving 100% of the ‘discovery’ and exploration to the meeting forum? If so, that’s a lot of pressure for the day.

CRM: This fundamentally involves looking at the CRM notes and asking yourself what and how much you know. Consider what possible objections may come up. Where are they not sold on us, and what beliefs do they have that are no longer true?

Call up and engage beforehand: I would suggest you always try to ‘pull’ as many conversations forward to create momentum around why they need to see you, finding out where they are at, what they have used before or now, and what is it they think you can bring to the table, and what are they expecting from this meeting, etc. Especially with the two people you don’t know yet. Frame it favourably, like, ‘Hi Jane, I’m looking forward to seeing you on Thursday and learning more about you and how we might be of service. To bring the most value to our time together, I’d like to know xyz’ and then launch into an easy and effective open question that will get them talking. Don’t ask for permission; confidently remind yourself that it’s in Jane’s interest to chat with you now so you can know how to help her.

Create Evidence:  Create a blog, LI post, on something you feel is convincing before they meet you. Send them the blog URL link or a Li message about your post (make sure it’s decently read-worthy)!

Email: Remember, your email is your real estate!
What it says and how it looks will impact and influence a client’s impression and opinion of you and your business.

So, send a concise email with the meeting agenda to all participants. Add any relevant review. If you’re adding a brochure or some other evidence, refer to it and highlight your reasons for including it.

If possible and befitting, amend your signature (image, text) to align with them.

The email could look like this:

‘I look forward to learning more about you and your Business’. Here are my suggested agenda topics:

Xxx

Xxx

Xxx

Below are a few words from a client who just installed [a potentially relevant business solution of yours].

Warm regards
Amazing Salesperson

Calendar invite & meeting agenda: Sending a calendar invite increases the chances you’ll be locked in their diary and sets a tone for the meeting. Avoid saying, ‘I’m looking forward to talking with you about XYZ’ as that implies you will be talking AT them – doing that ole ‘show up and throw up’!

On the contrary, you intend to be asking questions and listening, so you look forward to understanding their situation and seeing how you may be of service.

So, the fundamental answer to all these situations (and so many others) is:

Stop waiting for and relying on the meeting to sell.

Pull the sale forward and position yourself as the trusted advisor before you turn up.

Have them sold on you before they see you.