The first impression is often the right one.
Many of the concepts in the article you are about to read are inspired by the article The 5 Pillars of Selling that many of you have read.
Here are 3 tips for taking care of the first few minutes of your sales meetings.
Unfortunately, none of them are like a magic wand and each will require you to prepare in advance.
Let's stop approaching our meetings in a rush and take the time to prepare.
What appointments do you have today?
If you can't sum up in one sentence the result you want, then you know you have to change something.
I have a follow-up call with Total today:
I meet the IT Director and the Legal Director.
We are at the end of the sales cycle, the 2 want to inspect our tool more precisely and measure the impact on their IT security.
They will ask me such and such a question. I am ready to answer.
3 minutes of Small Talk
No more. No less.
3 minutes with the Legal Director of Total can be long if I have nothing to say.
Neither does he. Unlike me, he has nothing to gain directly from the sale.
Don't rely on him to make you feel comfortable and relaxed.
To "ice break" with anyone, I recommend you check out their Linkedin profile.
I'm not knocking down an open door. Please take a look at it.
What did he do before joining Total? How long has he been with Total? Do you have any common relationships? Has he always done the same job?
"The important thing in life is that people like you" - Vincent Bolloré.
100% confidence. Just after saying "Hello"
"While preparing for our meeting, I came across your Linkedin profile"
"I see you've spent almost your entire career at Total, that's incredible!"
"Do you remember your early days? You must know everyone?"
It is time to become an expert in small talk.
Selling is a science and an art.
This is where those who have mastered the "art of putting people at ease" score high.
The ones where you say "I don't really know what else he does, but he's got stuff...".
Announce the plan
The value of small talk is well understood. We also understood that we should not abuse it too much.
To avoid losing credibility, don't dawdle too much and get on with it.
"
"Thank you for making yourselves available for this exchange"
"I propose that we tackle two subjects together today, which are xx and yy"
Show your prospect how well you prepared before arriving at the meeting. Show them that, in addition to being very nice, you are also very thorough.
The more rigorous you are, the more people will take you for what you are: a professional.
The more professional you are, the more trustworthy you will be.
The more people trust you, the more you can convince them.
And to sell, convincing is essential.
We have never before produced a graph with such a marked difference.
If that's not convincing enough, I'm happy to talk to you about it.
The intensity
"Finally, if we can agree, we can take the next steps, which will be..."
Here's a little home-made advice.
Easily applicable.
Since you have read this article, you know the importance of having a systematic next step for your sales appointments.
So don't hesitate to talk about it from the start.
Some will say:
"Oh yes, I do it all the time".
And yet ...
Finally
You know this because it is often repeated, but few of us are able to adopt this mindset.
The "learning" or "wanting to progress" mindset.
We ourselves, as we write this, know that we still have thousands of things to learn.
Sometimes we still don't close all our sales.
Even Rafael Nadal doesn't win all these matches.
Good luck 💪
Paul
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