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Imagine SuperCharging client meetings

Written by: Peter Lawless

Article Overview: I don't know if you have ever been in the scenario where you are about to walk into a meeting, you know that this guy you are meeting has the potential to give you an order that will take you to the next level.

Imagine SuperCharging client meetings

Your hands are a bit sweaty, you really have prepared long and hard for this, and it just HAS to work out. What's even better; though this is the first time you have met them, they have come to you on the back of a recommendation, because you took the time to put a referral system in place along with great testimonials.

You know you have what they need, you have even swotted up on your sales training and you have the line of questions that every great sales person would start off by.

After he shakes your hand, you do the rapport building small talk, and then he asks that question… The one you were dreading……

What is the question and how you should answer it to supercharge your sales calls?

That question is “Great tell me what you can do for me”
All the preparation, all the great questions just seem to evaporate from your mind and you resort to that age old trap that all sales people and business owners seem to fall into;

The Pitch!

Yes, the good old sales pitch, the 2 minute elevator speech, the presentation – all of which have you conducting a monologue, telling the guy at the receiving end everything that you already know.

And were you aware that they will take in less than 7% of what you tell them, and only that much is you happen to guess correctly exactly what is relevant to them – A highly unlikely prospect.

What's wrong with that, I mean you might even have taken the hugely positive step of preparing your value proposition and created a set of power questions that you can use and so you know the pitch has to be good.

Yes to a point – Once you have nailed your value proposition, so that you know exactly who your prospects are, what they want and how they can get great value from it, you are now ready for the next step.

The next step is to get them to understand how THEY can get value from your offering.

And yes, you are indeed right when you guessed that people like you and your prospects hate to be told things – you all probably like to figure it out for your self.

Because when you figure it out for yourself, you are far more likely to start owning the idea.

So do you know how to respond to THAT question, the one that can throw all your plans into disarray yet?

You respond by telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, with complete sincerity – you say;

I would love to tell you all about how XYZ got ABC benefit from using our service, but I really don't know if that is relevant to you, until I know a bit more about your own needs and desires and what currently might be causing you pain – is it OK if I just ask you a couple of clarification questions.

And then when they allow you, you get back on track with your power questions, that will clarify whether or not the guy sitting opposite you will actually understand how they feel they can benefit from your offering.

You may not even be aware of how powerful the language you use everyday is and as you start to use some of the techniques that my executive coaching clients or my sales coaching clients have learnt, you could continue to SuperCharge your client meetings, with more positive results than even you thought possible.

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Article Tags: business owners, elevator speech, monologue, old trap, pitch, power questions, prospects, referral system, sales person, testimonials, value proposition



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Trade fairs relevant for established business - A trade fair is not necessarily the medium for introducing our company and its affairs. Trade fair participation is usually for companies who are already established in business and these companies find this opportunity to showcase their new innovations to existing range and fresh introductions in their product lines. Also some new client relationships are established thru walk in meetings - for established companies its a part of their marketing budget expenditure and research and development cost so its not a waste of money and effort.
Re: How can I use this forum to market my company? - I think this is a great place to share information, frustrations, or solutions to problems. I wouldn't say it's a direct way to "market." The same way if you went to an entrepreneur networking event, you may make a few friends, but you likely aren't going to walk in and find your ideal client, right? You might if the event was specialized enough. But because this is really a gathering of entrepreneurs (who likely won't be in win/win situations), I really see it as a great place to share tips. But it's probably no better for your marketing purposes than going to any chamber of commerce meetings -- which are also terrific, but might not result in instant business. I really like the forum though! And I think it's a very valuable resource.
Re: Does it help to join business groups? - I used to just randomly go to groups. Maybe I was invited, maybe it was a new group I found, maybe, maybe. Then when I created my ideal client profile I stopped all that. Now I attend meetings where a) the majority of the members are my ideal clients b) a majority of the members know my ideal clients. It cuts down my networking time, the costs involved in networking, and I have a better chance of being recommended to others because I'm hanging out with the right people. I do visit new groups from time to time; but usually call first to get a better idea of whom the members are.
Something I never heard off - Ambassadors, sometimes called "champions" are extremely significant. I've had such a client for about four years, and he's recommended me to a number of new clients. This year, a woman who he'd recommended me to several years ago became an ambassador herself, introducing me to my newest client... one that promises to be my second largest client overall. Hopefully all will go according to plan and 2007 will be a fine year. If so, then I've got a couple of ambassadors to thank for it!
My personal experience about Ambassadors - Ambassadors, sometimes called "champions" are extremely significant. I've had such a client for about four years, and he's recommended me to a number of new clients. This year, a woman who he'd recommended me to several years ago became an ambassador herself, introducing me to my newest client... one that promises to be my second largest client overall. Hopefully all will go according to plan and 2007 will be a fine year. If so, then I've got a couple of ambassadors to thank for it!


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