The Grow Show: Business Growth Stories from the Frontlines

[The Grow Show Sales Tip] Preparing for a Meeting

April 08, 2022 AMG Season 1
The Grow Show: Business Growth Stories from the Frontlines
[The Grow Show Sales Tip] Preparing for a Meeting
Show Notes Transcript

We know how hard it is to set up an appointment with a prospect, but the sales meeting and follow up process is the most important part of the relationship. Today's tip comes from a member of our own sales team and highlights 10 things to gather before your initial sales meeting and how to include them into your agenda.


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Welcome to abstract University's top 10 tips delivered under 10 minutes. Before we get started, let me share with you one of our clients success stories that were reinforced the need to prepare for a meeting. Let's call the client Jeff. Jeff listened to our appointment and scored it in the portal and did a little research on the company where the prospect worked, put all the meeting notes and a file, put it on his calendar, and he thought he was ready to go, got to the meeting, met the decision maker. And within 10 minutes, he knew that this was going to be a great partnership. The problem was, he couldn't get the key decision maker to open up. And he knew they weren't connecting in a way that would help him create that partnership. Jeff went home very frustrated, and he started doing a little research on the individual he had met earlier in the day that he wasn't able to connect with in just five minutes. That research made him more frustrated, because he realized that the person he met earlier, was just as big of a science fiction buff as he was. And he could have used that topic to create that bridge. Now the good news is Jeff reengaged that contact and use that information and ended up closing the sale because he developed a bond between the decision maker. Now what you're looking for is any content that you can use to build a bridge and the individual you're meeting with, especially if you're in a very relationship driven industry. These connection tips are like gold. So the first tip is b2b decision makers are five times more likely to engage with a successful introduction. So start with making sure you know their title, but don't judge it. Because you may be meeting a key influencer, that could be your internal champion to creating a new partnership. Because most company's internal processes don't start at the top. And in today's environment, most decisions are made by committee. The next step is to research the individual's previous employers after all, they might be an old client research where they went to college, it might have been the same one you went to. Or you may know someone that went to that university that can help you connect. Based on the college they went to look at its history, if they're known for their football program or basketball program, because the alumni might be actively tracking those sports. And you can use that content to create that bridge. The next step is to research social media, look at their pictures, read their posts. And what you're looking for is either an indication of what their hobbies are because most people are very passionate about their hobbies, or charities they're interested in both of those can be used as content to create that bridge that you're looking for. So understanding the person's interest in sports, or a specific team in sports can also be great content to create your bridge. Next, take a look at the family infrastructure and what you're looking for as commonalities and maybe kids ages, boys and girls sports they participate in, don't go detailed into the topic. But people love to talk about what their kids are doing. The next step is to look at the company's website. But staying in that personal research mode, what you're looking for, is to see if they won any awards by the company or in the industry. If they're a blogger, make sure that you read a couple of their last blogs, print them out and put them in your briefcase to really prove that you've done your homework for this meeting. Because bloggers are very proud of the content they publish. Let's look at the resources you can use to complete your research. Naturally, Google's on the top of the list, so Google their name, or college, any clubs or any affiliations they have in different areas. The biggest mistake though, that people make is thinking that the prospects engagement in social media mirrors yours. So just because you don't use Twitter, doesn't mean you can't get something out of the 300 million people who do. So hopefully this enhances your ability to always be growing