There’s nothing more exciting or terrifying than a sales meeting. On one side, you’re happy someone has shown interest in your product. On the other, the pressure can manifest as anxiety and an uncomfortable sensation in your stomach.
Ultimately, the goal of every sales meeting is to close the deal or move it toward that result. To do so, it’s important to know how and when to talk about your solution and your company. Remember, you’re not selling to businesses, you’re selling to people.
会心whento unleash that sales pitch is what makes sales pros … well, pros. So, how do you know when it’s that perfect time? Fortunately, there’s something I like to call the “master tip” for closing more deals. It works under any circumstance -- regardless of your industry or product -- and it’s a personal sales meeting agenda.
1. Include time for rapport building
...但是时间不多！搁置每个电话的前五分钟或开会以建立融洽的关系。这可能意味着询问您的前景有关他们的周末或谈论最新的“权力游戏”情节 - 只要确保它不可避免地超越平凡small talk。
需要一些帮助，使创意小型谈话齿轮运转吗？使用这些conversation startersas a jumping off point.
2. Set a meeting goal
Identify what you want to get out of this meeting. Do you want to determine whether your solution will be a good fit for your prospect? Do you need to know their budget? Or do you simply hope to earn another meeting?
不管目标是什么,它只是惩罚学生rtant you have one. This serves as an anchor for the rest of your meeting which keeps things on track and relevant.
In fact, a2017年研究, published in Harvard Business Review, suggests goals and agendas should be agreed upon before meetings. When appropriate, share the goal of the meeting with your prospect ahead of time, and ask for their feedback.
For example, you might say, "I'd like the goal of this meeting to be clearly outlining the value our solution can offer your team and determining the ROI you can look forward to.“
3. Bullet your main points
Once you have a meeting goal, bullet a few ways you're going to achieve that goal. This serves as an outline for your meeting. It's a more natural alternative to the traditional sales scripts of old, and it protects you from wandering off course.
For example, if your meeting goal is to learn whether your prospect has the budget necessary to move forward, your main points might be:
- 一种sk about team goals and priorities this quarter
- 询问分配的预算以实现这些目标和优先事项
- Share the ROI of investing in your product to achieve those goals and priorities
4. Set a (loose) timeline
Meetings are fluid and should remain flexible to adapt to your prospect's needs. But it's important to have guardrails that ensure you're respectful of their time as well as your own.
Run through your bulleted points and allot approximations of how much time you think it will take to discuss each one.
Keeping your meetings to 30 minutes or less is ideal,according to Concur。This ensures you make the most of your attendees' time and attention. After all,92％的会议与会者confess to multitasking during meetings, so consider going "laptops shut" for those 30 minutes -- and make your meeting worth their time.
5.编舞停顿和问题的时间
Make sure you give your prospect plenty of time to contribute to the conversation. After you present each of your bullets, pause and ask if your prospect has any questions.
Now is also a good time to make sure this meeting is aligning with their expectations. A quick, "我在回答你的问题吗？“or "Is this call matching your expectations,“确保每个人都在同一页面上。
一种study of Japanese businesspeoplefound they were comfortable with mid-meeting silences up to 8.2 seconds long -- twice the length of silence American businesspeople were comfortable with. Why? "Belly talk" is a Japanese concept in which the best conversation is when you don't speak at all.
Make room for healthy silence in your presentations. You might be surprised at what that extra time to think yields from your prospects.
6. Identify your CTA
You should be closing for something in every call, email, or meeting you set. It might simply be closing for five more minutes of their time, but you should never go into a meeting without having an ask.
For example, if you're having a meeting to ascertain expectations around budget, your CTA might be: "我分享了更多有关产品X如何帮助您本季度实现部门目标的信息。这是您愿意将预算分配给的东西吗？“
在每次通信期间拥有CTA都可以保持动力，并确保每个接触点都是可行和有价值的。
7. Schedule your next meeting
不要在不安排下一个触摸基础的情况下结束会议。通过比较当下的日历来充分利用您的潜在客户积极参与。
7 Steps to a Successful Agenda
Create a master sales meeting agenda and tweak it for each meeting you attend. It will ensure you’re always prepared, organized, and moving the deal forward.
Step 1. Stop waiting for the “right time” to make your sales pitch
当今销售代表的最大问题之一是他们过于依赖融洽关系。是的，重要的是，您和您的潜在客户彼此了解，但这还不足以完成这笔交易。
If you want to make friends as a salesperson, that’s fine. But if you want to start making more clients, you need to design a sales meeting agenda that takes the product presentation in the right direction.
这将您的策略的重点从“定时”转变为“建立”。
Once you know when to make your pitch, you can craft the rest of your meeting agenda to support it.
Step 2. Make your prospect the right kind of uncomfortable
When the whole smarketing process focuses on theclient’s needs and goals，故意使您的前景感到不舒服的想法听起来可能是违反直觉的 - 但这很有意义。
购买是一个情绪决定backed by logic. You make a purchase when you want and need something, right? Not necessarily.
Take exercise, for example. Scientists have been preaching the benefits of working out for decades. But most people don’t do it, even though they want to look good and be healthy.
即使人类需要运动来过着健康的生活，我们中的许多人都对当前的状况保持良好状态。在我们的脑海中，锻炼是浪费金钱或时间 - 直到某些情况破坏了现状。
That break might be a medical issue or the desire to attract a partner. Whatever the reason, suddenly our outlook changes and weneedto do something about it.
This presents the perfect time for a gym owner to discuss current membership discounts and the benefits of joining today.
作为销售代表，您的一部分工作是使潜在客户意识到他们需要改变 - 您的产品是入门的最佳方法。
Step 3. Determine needs and pain points
If you did your homework, you’re going to have a lot of information about the people you’re meeting with and the company they represent.
因此,在第一部分meeting, your goal should be to确定他们的需求和痛点。
Maybe you’ve detected some during the research, but your prospect might have called you for other reasons.
大多数时候，您会遇到经理和C-Level executives他们是对销售人员施加压力的专家。不要为此而堕落，开始立即谈论您和您的公司。bob全站app首先，探测更多信息。提出类似的问题：
- “该项目的目标是什么？bob全站app透明
- “我的服务或产品如何影响公司吗bob全站app’s operations?透明
- “What are your personal and professional goals?透明
- “What’s the company’s situation in the market?透明
- “Where do they see their business in five years?透明
一种void asking“是的”or “No“ 问题。您希望他们深入谈论他们的问题，并问他们：“So, is this a priority for you right now?透明might not be a great question to start your conversation with.
My favorite follow-up tactic is to put the idea of buying into the prospect’s mind. I’ll say, “Imagine you already bought the software. Now, tell me: What’s your ideal scenario from implementation to functionality?透明
That simple line usually gets them talking about how they want to interact with our technicians and what they expect from the product.
如果您做正确的事，您将确切知道他们的痛苦and需求是。现在，可以这么说是时候把手指放在伤口上了。
步骤4.不要忽略过渡
不要从收集数据到创造潜在客户的需求。这是毫无意义的，提醒您您是销售人员。结果，您克服融洽关系的障碍会恢复，这使事情变得复杂。
Instead, consolidate achievements from the previous stage of the process with a transition. For example, you might say:
“先生。约翰，我知道您想通过降低成本来提高运营的盈利能力，并希望优化制造过程。是对的吗？”
这显示了您理解的前景和关心他们的处境。这也使他们有机会提出他们以前可能从未想过的任何东西。
Step 5. Help prospects realize their own need for your help
到这个时候，您必须知道产品的哪些功能完美地解决了他们的问题 - 但是谈论它们还为时过早。相反，继续探索信息。Here are a few questions to ask at this stage of the meeting:
- “What are the obstacles you need to overcome to achieve your goals?透明
- “What’s the worst part of an average working day for you?透明
- “If you could magically change something in the operation, what would it be?透明
- “什么功能会让您购买我的产品？透明
- “What would be nice to have?透明
- “您什么时候要开始从事此项目？透明
These inquiries make the prospect realize how urgent and serious the need for change is. It also allows them to re-experience the personal and professional reasons they scheduled the sales presentation with you in the first place.
Step 6. Map out one final transition before your pitch
Now’s the moment they’re ready to hear how your product will solve their problems. So, you go and start talking about the wonderful benefits your solution provides, right? Well, not yet.
相反，另外一个周到的过渡提供了最终的推动力想知道您提供的东西。就像是：
“What if I told you my software could help you solve [specific problem] allowing you to achieve [specific goal] in [estimated amount of time]? Would you be interested?”
Now you can blow your prospect’s mind with a superior, affordable, and practical product.
Step 7. Pitch
Because you’ve carefully planned each part of your meeting to build and support the last, yourpitchshould be a natural ending to the conversation and an easy “Yes透明from your prospect.
一种s you can see, this simple method can be applied during any sales meeting to turn the odds in your favor.
个性化和练习自己的销售会议议程，用您自己的话来制定问题和过渡，直到听起来很自然。这样可以确保每次互动都是有意义的，富有成效的，并且对您的交易进行了前瞻性。
Originally published Apr 22, 2019 8:32:00 PM, updated June 15 2021
