DAY TWO; STEP TWO: That first meeting — Now what? - The Strategist

So, you got the first meeting with that target account. Great! Make sure you know all about the account. Set up a one-page account plan with information such as:

Who are the Key players?
What business are they in?
What type of boards do they need?
How much (in dollars) of our type of business do they have?
Who is currently providing them with boards?
What are their hot buttons?
What are we going to have to do to win this account?

What you don’t know about this account, you should try to find out during that first meeting. Set your goals for that meeting. What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to learn? What do you want to get across? Remember to listen. Ask the right questions, in the right way, and you will learn what you need to know. Do not be a D.A. firing off questions like the buyer is on trial. Engage in conversation. Be charming and amiable and genuinely interested, after all you, should be. It’s your future we are talking about. Try to cover as many of these issues as possible:

What are your needs?
What is your biggest problem right now?
What other problems do you have?
What are you doing to deal with these problems?
Who are you using right now?
Will they be able to handle your needs in the future?
How is that going?
What do you like about the product? Dislike?
What would motivate you to make a change?
How much would it be worth to you to solve your problems?
How can we help?
What can we do?
What is the next step?

And, yes, that next step is really important. It’s your job to make sure that this meeting is only the beginning of the relationship, not the end. So, talk about the next step. Where do we go from here?

Offer to send the buyer an e-mail summary of your meeting, including what you promised to do as follow up and what the buyer promised to do. This is key because it will begin your relationship for one and put you in the driver’s seat as well.

If you walk out with a quote, great! If you walk out with a promise of a quote, that’s good too. But now it is up to you to keep the ball rolling. From now on you have to come up with touch points to stay in touch. The e-mail summary of the meeting, with actions, included is the first step. Then, as you complete the actions, send the buyer that information as another touch point. And so on.

Make sure you also arrange for the next meeting. Before you leave the meeting is the best time. Tell the buyer when you will be coming by the next time and make the arrangements right then and there.

So, you have really begun the relationship now. If all goes well, you will have a quote soon. And that is the next step.