When you first meet with a buyer /prospect, it is important that both of you are on the same page about what will happen during the meeting. In order to have an effective meeting, both you and the buyer/prospect must agree to what will happen, when it will happen and in what order it will happen. To this end, it is important that you use an agenda to eliminate any potential misunderstandings.
Creating agendas with our buyers happen at the beginning and end of each contact or conversation. Failure to do this results in the sales person making a lot of assumptions, most of which will be false.
Below is a meeting agenda that we teach our clients to use in their first face to face meeting. We suggest that you spend two minutes going over this agenda and gaining agreement with your buyer before you begin any substantive discussions. If you will use this you will shorten your sales cycle and avoid a lot of misunderstandings.
Meeting Agenda
1. Meeting Objective:
Is there a fit between your company and ours?
2. Two Ground Rules:
Total Honesty and Openness with each other.
It is OK for either of us to terminate the conversation at any time.
3. Your Issues:
Current Situation < —— > Desired Situation
4. Overview of our company’s products and services
What we do, how we do it, how much does it cost?
5. Decision Process
How do you make decisions and what do you need from me to help you do that?
6. Next Step:
Clearly decide what our next step should be
Good Selling
Steve Clark
PS Check out the free “How to Hire Sales Superstars” TeleClass