MASTER SALES MEETINGS
...AND ADVANCE TO THE NEXT LEVEL
JILL KONRATH
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MASTER SALES
MEETINGS
CREATE AN AWESOME INITIAL MEETING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03
5 STEPS TO MASTER SALES MEETINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05
1 CONDUCT PRE-MEETING RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06
2 DETERMINE YOUR POSITIONING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08
3 PLAN YOUR QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4 DEFINE YOUR MEETING OUTCOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5 GUIDELINES FOR AN EFFECTIVE FIRST MEETING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
GET THE SALES MEETING WORKSHEET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
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CREATE AN AWESOME INITIAL MEETING
Congratulations on getting a meeting set up with a new prospect. That’s a major accomplishment
today—especially when it’s so difficult to connect.
Your first conversation is a make-or-break situation for you. If you do well, you’re given an opportunity
to advance the buying process. If you don’t, you’re shoved out the door as quickly as possible. Or, it’s virtually impossible to set up a follow-up conversation.
So how can you ensure it’s a success? By studying and replicating what top sellers are doing. To start,
top sellers spend lots of time preparing for this critical first meeting. They research their prospects in
depth. Then, they scrutinize the research looking for ways that they can add value with their products or
services.
As part of their prep, top sellers also identify success stories to share, cull out the key points, and
practice the stories aloud. They plan their meetings to achieve a specific desired outcome. They even
write down questions to ask and take this list into their meeting.
What top sellers do may seem like a lot of work, but it’s what it takes to move the buying process
forward. That’s why their meetings end with prospective buyers saying things like:
“We need to keep on talking.”
“We have to get Tony involved.”
“Can you come back next week and meet with...”
“Where can we see one of these working?”
“How soon can we get started?”
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These are the types of responses every seller dreams of hearing at the end of their meeting.
Unfortunately, more often than not, they hear:
“Thanks for your time; if we ever need one we’ll give you a call.”
● “We’ll think about it and get back to you.”
● “It’s not exactly what we were looking for.”
● “You’re too pricey for us.”
Here are three critical reasons why most sellers don’t ever make it
past the first meeting:
They don’t invest enough time preparing for the meeting.
They don’t understand the components of an effective initial sales meeting.
They focus on their own offering—not the prospective customer’s business needs.
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5
STEPS TO
MASTER
SALES
MEETINGS
This eBook walks you through the steps necessary to
pass the first test with an important account and get
invited back for a second meeting. It includes a Sales
Meeting Worksheet you can fill out and take with you to
ensure you stay on message.
These strategies work if you’re calling on large, global
corporations, midsized companies and even small
businesses. By following them, you’ll quickly be seen as a
credible resource who brings value to the relationship.
Additionally, the preparation you put into planning
significantly increases your comfort level during the
meeting. You’ll be much better equipped to listen to your
prospects and identify potential areas where you can
help them.
Once you master this process, you’ll be able to move
more deals forward to close—more quickly.
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STEP 1.
CONDUCT PRE-MEETING
RESEARCH
Prior to meeting with a prospect, it’s critical to invest time
understanding their business. Start your information
gathering and planning early enough to give you time to
create an effective meeting plan.
Start by checking out their website. Look at the “about”
section; that’s where companies list important
announcements and post financial results. Read the
company’s annual report to identify where they’re headed
and what their future priorities are. Do an online search for
recent articles about them in the press.
Then, go to LinkedIn to find out about the people you’re
meeting with. What are they responsible for? Do you have
any connections, interests or groups in common? Look for
other people you can meet with too; you never want one
person to be your sole lifeline for a sales opportunity.
If the person you’re meeting with contacted your company,
check out what they’ve done on your website. Did they
download any special reports, watch any videos, etc.? Use
this context to plan your approach.
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For larger accounts, it can easily take 2-3 hours (or even more) to gather and read through all the information. The
time you dedicate to research should parallel the potential size of the deal.
Unfortunately, many sellers omit this critical step. Failure to invest time in this area upfront significantly impacts your
ability to successfully sell your product or services.
Your knowledge of their business is the first thing that differentiates you from most of your competitors. Plus, by
understanding their company, you’re able to ask intelligent questions and align your offering with their needs.
Here are seven things to look for while you’re doing research. They’ll
help you understand your prospect’s business better.
Primary business: What industry are they in and how do they help
their customers?
● Business unit/division: How is the company divided? What is
the role of each division? Where’s the best fit?
● Market segment: Who is their target audience? What characteristics
make up their ideal customer profile?
● Financial position: Are they growing or shrinking? Borrowing money
or cash rich?
● Their customers: Who are some of their customers and what are
their success stories?
● Key strategic initiatives: What specific objectives are they trying
to achieve?
● Industry trends: What is the growth pattern in the industry? How
are the buying patterns changing?
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STEP 2.
DETERMINE YOUR
POSITIONING
After completing your research, identify where you
might have a positive impact on your targeted
company. While it’s tempting to say that there’s no way
to know until you have a conversation, that’s not the
way it works anymore.
Today’s busy, savvy and well-educated buyers expect
you to have some idea of the difference you can make
prior to meeting with them. And, while you can’t know
the specifics of how you can help them, by doing the
research you’ll have some good ideas.
The key is to leverage what you know from working
with similar companies to set the stage for your
conversation and your questions. You need to bring
fresh ideas, insights and information to the meeting.
When you do, your prospects will be more than willing
to do a needs assessment with you. But they need to
know you’ve invested time learning about them
before they open up to you.
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Based on your research of your prospect’s organization as well as similar companies,
think about these questions:
How are they handling things today without your product or service?
What is their status quo?
What kinds of problems or challenges might they be facing because of
how they’re currently doing things?
Because of their current status quo, what gaps might exist between
where they are today versus where they want to be?
Looking at the problems, challenges or gaps that may be present, what
are the potential business implications? (This is important!)
If this company used your products or services, what business value
would they realize? (At this point, it’s a guess. But, if you’ve done your
homework you should have some ideas.)
What difference could your product or service make? (Net it out to the
best of your ability, making sure you’re focused on key business
drivers that your prospect is measured on.)
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STEP 3.
PLAN YOUR QUESTIONS
Good questions are one of the best ways to demonstrate
that you’re committed to helping your prospect achieve
their goals. They show you care about them, which is
important because most people think sellers only care
about their commissions.
You’ll want to ask questions that:
Uncover info about your prospect’s objectives as well
as the status quo relevant to your product/services.
Identify (or confirm) issues, problems, difficulties and
obstacles they’re facing that would prevent them from
achieving their goals.
Determine the business ramifications of these
challenges.
Explore the business case for making a change.
???
10 Key Sales Strategies |
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STEP 4.
DEFINE THE MEETING OUTCOME
As a result of this meeting, what is the logical next step? Research into sales success shows that if you’ve defined an
appropriate desired outcome prior to the sales meeting, you’re much more likely to achieve it.
While you might want to walk away with a signed contract, the likelihood of this happening from just one meeting is
slim to none. So don’t set yourself up for failure; plan on having multiple conversations from the beginning.
Think process. Today’s buyers don’t make snap purchase decisions. First they need to determine if it’s even worth
the effort to change from what they’re currently doing. They’ll likely involve multiple people in this discussion. And,
unless it makes good business sense, they’ll stay with the status quo.
Once people decide to change, they need to look at multiple options to ensure they make the right decision.
Use your typical buyer’s journey as a guideline for determining the
appropriate and best outcome for your meeting.
Here are some “next steps” that you could suggest:
Meeting with another person involved in the buying process.
Analysis of a specific situation or problem.
Demonstration of your product or service.
Proposal with your recommendations.
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STEP 5.
PLAN THE MEETING AGENDA
Good meetings focus on your buyers and what’s most
important to them—not your product, service or solution.
The following meeting agenda works well for both in-person
or phone conversations. Thinking about what you’ll do ahead
of time matters. It gets you clear on where you’re headed. It
ensures that you stay on plan and on message, which is
exactly what it takes to advance to the next step.
Strangely enough, it also enables you to be more flexible
during the meeting. You can be curious about new
information you learn, without losing track of where you’re
ultimately headed.
Use this sample agenda as a guideline, not an absolute. The
timeframes below assume a one-hour meeting.
I. OPEN THE CONVERSATION (5-10 MINUTES)
Buyers don’t have a lot of time for meaningless chitchat and
relationship building these days. Be cordial and friendly, but
business-focused at all times.
A. Make the introductions
Take a few minutes to learn about the responsibilities
of the people in the meeting. If others are present, make sure to introduce yourself and learn their names.
Find out why they’re attending and what interests they
have relative to the business issue.
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B. Confirm times and agenda
Before you get started, double check to see if times
have changed since you set up the meeting. If your
prospect has to run into an urgent meeting in 30
minutes, you need to adjust your game plan or
reschedule for a future time.
Reconfirm the purpose of the meeting also to ensure
there are no misunderstandings.
You might say, “As I explained earlier, we work with
high tech firms to increase brand awareness and
drive sales. In our time together today, I’d like to give
you a little background on how we address these
issues, find out what your company is doing in these
areas and see if we have grounds for further
discussions. How does that sound?”
Notice the professionalism and leadership in this
overview. It shows that you have a clear plan for the
meeting. Buyers feel better immediately; they know
their precious time won’t be wasted.
II. LEAD THE DISCUSSION (40-45 MINUTES)
You want to create a dialogue—not make a pitch. Lay
the groundwork by sharing information of high interest
to your prospects. Then invite them into a discussion by
asking questions that make them think.
A. Set the stage (5 minutes)
Your prospects will need more grounding about
what your company does than the brief
one-sentence description given above. When you
arranged the meeting, something you said was
enticing to this person.
Now is the opportune time to give a brief overview
of the business results a specific client achieved with
your product, service or solution. Explain the
challenge your customer faced, how you helped
them, and the results they achieved.
Also share your position statement—your insightful
ideas on how you can make a positive impact on
their business.
B. Transition to questions (less than 1 minute)
As quickly as you can, shift the focus to your
prospect—where it belongs.
To do this, simply say, “That should give you a good
overview about how we help our customers solve
their problems (or achieve their objectives). The most
important thing is to find out if this makes sense for
your company. In preparing for today’s meeting, I
noticed that (insert data re: company’s direction,
trigger event, other info uncovered in research). I was
wondering how …”
Unless you plan your transition, it’s sometimes hard
to stop talking—especially if your prospect is
goading you on with questions about your product
or service. Please realize that this most likely means
they’re trying to rule you out. That’s why you need to
lead the conversation and why effective transitions
are so crucial.
C. Focus on business issues (35-40 minutes)
Prior to the meeting develop a minimum of ten
insightful, powerful questions you can use to lead a
business-focused discussion. Decision makers are
always interested in talking about their business.
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They wouldn’t be taking time to meet with you
unless they truly wanted help solving their problems
or achieving their goals.
Have the questions handy so you can refer to them.
Your prospect will be impressed by how well you’ve
prepared for the meeting. But don’t give them the list
of questions or they’ll just rattle off the answers.
Ask your questions in a conversational manner—not
like a schoolteacher giving an oral test. Questions
build relationships, establish rapport, demonstrate
your competence and show that you care.
Remember, this is a discussion—not a sales pitch.
Listen to their answers. Be interested. Learn as much
as you can. Take copious notes of everything that’s
said —not just the parts you find interesting.
Always LEAN BACK. The moment you move forward,
you’re pitching. The discussion is over and the push
is on. Your prospect immediately puts up defensive
barriers and raises objections. Getting the sale is
going to be infinitely harder unless you immediately
recover and get back into the discovery mode.
III. ADVANCE THE PROCESS (5 - 10 MINUTES)
When you focus on questions, your one-hour meeting
flies by. Even if your prospect seems oblivious to the
time, it’s important not to overstay your welcome. Draw
attention to the clock. See if you’re invited to stay
longer. If not, it’s time to wrap up and advance to
the logical next step.
A. Summarize your understanding
Since it usually takes multiple sales meetings to close
a deal, don’t try to share everything you know, ask
every question you want answered or hand out
every piece of collateral in your briefcase at
the initial meeting.
Instead, show your professional expertise by
summarizing what you learned about their critical
business issues and the value of resolving them.
Do not, under any circumstances, get into a
discussion about your product or service. This will be
the hardest thing in the whole world for you to do,
but it’s essential. Remember, buyers don’t really care
about your offering—only what it can do for them.
They also realize that in a short one-hour meeting,
you can’t possibly offer them a well thought out
solution. They don’t expect one.
B. Suggest the logical next step
Then, without making a big deal of it, simply
recommend a good option to move the process
forward. This is the logical next step you were
working toward from the onset.
You might say, “Usually when I work with companies
on product introductions, the next step is to have a
conversation with the product manager to get a
better understanding of the launch plans already
in place and where gaps might exist. Can we get a
meeting set up with this person in the next couple
weeks?”
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If you’ve had a good discussion, it’s highly likely that your prospect will
have already suggested a next step. If so, great! Get it on the calendar.
If your prospect missed an important step, offer it up as another idea:
“Ms. Biggie, I’ll get going on your recommendation right away. Also,
based on my experience, we need to talk with the IT department as
well. Can we get that set up, too?”
Ending meetings like this advances the sales process to its next logical
step. It’s honest and full of integrity. It’s just simply suggesting the next
logical thing that you both need to do to determine if your offering is a
good fit for their business.
SALES MEETING WORKSHEET
Ready to start planning for your next meeting with a hot prospect?
Use the Sales Meeting Worksheet to record your research and
planning. Take it with you to your next meeting. It’ll help you stay on
message and on track to winning their business.
GET THE WORKSHEET
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ABOUT JILL KONRATH
Jill Konrath is a globally recognized sales strategist.
She’s an in-demand speaker at sales kick-off meetings
and conferences where she shares fresh strategies to
help salespeople deal with emerging challenges.
Jill is the bestselling author of four books: More Sales,
Less Time, SNAP Selling, Selling to Big Companies and
Agile Selling. With over 1/4 million LinkedIn followers and
140,000 blog readers, her advice is impacting sellers
worldwide.
To bring Jill in to speak at your upcoming event,
contact her via email: jill@jillkonrath.com
or phone: 651-429-1922
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