Do your meetings have structure?
If you have no structure in your meetings with prospects, you probably lose control of most of your meetings.
I want you to think of a time in one of your meetings with a prospective client, and after the introductions the prospect just starts drilling you for information. Being the good natured person you are, you answer all the questions in all of your meetings. But the whole time you are answering your prospects questions during your meetings you seem to find yourself wondering, “How much time do you have, who are they doing business with now, are you talking to the right person, etc.”
After 30-minutes of your prospect asking you questions and you answering them, they tell you thanks for your time and we’ll get back to you. As you leave their office you are probably thinking one of two things.
1. You either think you had a great meeting because you answered all their questions.
2. You think you’re in trouble because you don’t know anything about their current situation.
You are right in both cases….almost.
Does this happen to you during your meetings on a regular basis?
Structure for Your Meetings
Since you may deal with business owner A.D.D. I’ll keep this brief about setting up your meetings effectively with structure. There are 3 Elements you can use to create structure in your meetings.
1. Lower the barriers to honest communication.
2. Define the objectives for both parties in your meetings.
3. Discuss the end results that your prospects can expect to have during your meetings.
Lower Barriers
Lowering barriers is all about respect and getting rid of buying pressure. Respect comes in the form of time, and how much you have. The simple way to respect the time in your meetings is to ask how much is available.
To get rid of buying pressure during your meetings you must share your “Best Fit” strategy with your prospect. Your “Best Fit” strategy is all about finding the right prospects who have problems and goals that you’re good at fixing. If there is a “Best Fit” between you and your prospect, you have a great chance of doing business together. If there is not, you can each go your separate ways.
If you can explain this to your prospects during your meetings, the buying pressure will start to go away. No buying pressure means more honest communication for both parties in your meetings.
Define Objectives
Defining objectives during your meetings is all about learning what each party wants to discover during their time together. In order to maintain structure in your meetings you will go first. My recommendation is that you identify the specific hot button topics that your prospects are the most interested in, and use those topics as your framework for your objectives during your meetings.
If you lay out your objectives correctly during your meetings your prospect will rarely add anything. But, to maintain respect for both parties, you will still ask for their objectives. If they add nothing, so be it. Either way you will be paving the way to differentiate yourself during your meetings.
End Results
At the end of your meetings with prospects you have two courses of action you want your prospects to take. You would like them to either tell you that there is not a “Best Fit” situation, or that there is a “Best Fit”.
Remember, if you can help your prospects make a “Yay” or “Nay” decision if you should do business together, you will be miles ahead.
Summary
So to wrap-up this concept, you want to do the following.
1. Lower any barriers to having honest communication in your meetings.
2. Define the objectives for both parties in your meetings.
3. Discuss the end results that your prospects can expect to have during your meetings (Yes or No).
Now go and make your meetings more effective.