Coffee's for Closers

17Conducting a Meeting

‘Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen’.

—Michael Jordan

Having attended over 5000 meetings in my sales career to date, for both myself and in training for my clients, I've learned some incredible lessons in terms of both what to do and what not to do.

Let me start with ‘what NOT to do, EVER AGAIN’. I recall my first few sales meetings where for the first five minutes I spoke to the prospect about the geographical area I looked after on the M4 corridor and the postcodes that covered and what my role as a sales executive entailed. Whilst I was boring the poor prospect to death, I was oblivious to a few key points:

This prospect did not have a single interest in the geographical areas I managed; I mean why would he?

I failed to give any value whatsoever.

I didn't engage the prospect at all and verbally threw up all over him.

I didn't deliver anything that would have been even the slightest bit beneficial to the prospect.

Apart from those points, it was an incredible introduction. So let me give you an example from the opposite side of the spectrum.

When you meet the prospect in the reception area and they walk you to their office, get them talking about themselves. Just ask anything that shows you're interested and gets them talking.

As a guideline, I suggest the following: ‘I understand you've been here for X years’. (You'll get this information from their LinkedIn profile.) ‘How did you get into the industry?’ ...