How to do a great first meeting.

Solution Finder.

Successful first meetings

Some practical things you can do to prepare.

Richard Masters

Objective

First meetings are diffucult!

This slide set presents some ideas on how you can prepare to ensure that the meeting is a success.

By the end you should have a good methodology to tackle a first meeting and get follow up meetings.

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Successful First Meetings www.rjmasters.co.uk

First calls are not easy!

Dont know the person

The lead may have been passed to you!

Effectively it is a cold call

Most clients have had bad first meeting experiences

The client does not know what to expect and will react instinctively not logically

But....

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Why is it so hard?

The skills involved are actually very complex

Mixture of business skills and sales skills and sales methodologies

Need to understand SMEs

Really are building blocks

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No pressure then!

Fortunately, there are some well tried and tested techniques which can help you both through the first meeting and on the way to a successful business relationship!

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Three key topic areas

Preparation

The meeting

Post meeting

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1.Preparation

Get this wrong and it is hard to recover- however good your meeting and interpersonal skills are!

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Important to plan thoroughly

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Need to allocate sufficient time

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What P***es off clients!

People who have not researched the basics before the meeting

Reading from, and filling in, a questionnaire during the meeting!

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Areas to Prepare

Need to get as many insights as possible into the Company, the Competition and their Market.

Vital to establish your personal credibility

Three key Areas of research:

The company

The competitors

The Industry/Market

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A. Company Research

1. Website

2. Search

3. Marketing Grader

4. Social Media

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1.Website

Start point is the Company Website. Thoroughly search and analyse it:

Organisation: Size, Structure, legal status, key people, locations, main products and services, operations, partnerships, memberships etc.

Sales & Marketing: Overall approach to S&M, Channels to market, key marketing tactics, key messages and key words, benefit statements (value propositions), USPs, social media connectors , brochures, white papers ,in house or outsourced, channel partners etc.

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Keywords

Tag cloud- good start point for finding search terms.

This one is for a business consultancy.

http://www.tagcrowd.com

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2. Search

Search Analysis. Using the keyword/phrases identified. Run a Google SERPs listing for the main ones. This should establish:

Is the business primarily local or not? Does it have a Google Places listing?

Where does it rank in organic search?

Does it use PPC and who is using PPC for these keywords?

Who appear to be its main competitors?

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Example of a SERPS listing

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SERPS Cont....

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Google Alerts

Set up Google Alerts to monitor all web activity for the company on a periodic basis

Company Blogs. Subscribe and follow these.

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3.Marketing Grader

Brilliant free tool:- www.marketing.grader.com

looks at key features of a website as a marketing tool

Composite score out of 1oo

Allows comparison with competition

Use with care!

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Key MG metrics

Top of funnel

Blog

SEO

Nos pages

Page title

Page description

MOZ Rank

Nos Links

Mobile

Social

Twitter

Facebook Business Page

Middle of Funnel

Landing pages

Marketing Automation

Analytics

Google Analytics

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4. Social Media

Can be a very useful source of information on your prospects/customers.

Main Ones:

1.LinkedIn

2.Twitter

3. Facebook

4. Others

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LinkedIn

Research Individuals and Companies:

Individuals Profiles

Find by people search (drop down box)

Profile info

Background & Summary (Personal Value Proposition!)

Jobs history

Academic and qualifications

References

People know you have viewed their profile!

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Connections

Browse all and common connections

Shared Groups Companies and Locations

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Companies on LinkedIn

Displays Products and Services

Insights into their marketing strategy

Displays all employees and how you are connected to them

Display followers ( click on followers tab)

Shows recent updates (offers, staff changes etc) and blogs

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Twitter

Google company name twitter to find accounts

Try key individuals as well.

Profile page: useful background information

Can see Companies own tweets: Good clue to their marketing strategy. Number of followers a good proxy for effectiveness!

See incoming Tweets @companyname

See their follower lists= list of customers/prospects. Or use a tool like Tweepi.

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Facebook

Google search to get facebook accounts if not on website

Profile and timeline give you lots of background info

May need to like them to get at detailed information on their marketing strategy: prospecting, online orders, customer service etc.

See customer responses directly beneath on their Wall!!

Gives you good discussion points in a meeting!

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Example of Facebook entry

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Other Social Networks

Visual ones:

Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr

You Tube

Directories:

Yelp, Yell, or

Specialist ones

Location Based

Foursquare

Google + Local (ex Google Places)

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B. Competitive Research

Dont go over board on this but need to show an awareness of competitive environment.

It will be at the top of your prospects interest list!

This is their Mastermind topic so be careful.

Compile a top level assessment of the main competitors as follows:

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InformationRequired

Identify who the main competitors are

Assess their relative market strength

Understand their key strategies

Talk about the implications of this for the prospect

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Who are the competition?

The SERPs listings should be a good start point!

Explore the websites of the top listing sites and those that advertise on PPC.

Go to Alexa.com and type in the prospects website URL, then review the listing of " People who visit this page also visit".

If business is basically local then Directories ( Yell or Yelp) or G+local are good sources

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Competitor Strategies

Glean as much information from their company website (size, locations, products, marketing strategy etc)

Google them individually and see what turns up

Use Marketing Grader by inserting the competitors URLs.

Search their Social Media profiles/Blogs just as you would a prospect

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Word of warning!

Handle this carefully as many clients are very sensitive about this!

Always ask the prospect who he sees as his major competitors and why, first.

If he doesnt mention a competitor you have identified ask him/her what he thinks of them.

Many companies take an overly historical view of competition and cannot see the new threats on the horizon.

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C. Industry/Market Research

Useful to be able to talk about wider trends in the prospects industry sector

The holy grail is market research which can cost money but, articles, whitepapers and industry reports do tend to exist. Find them using Google search.

Google Trends is a very useful tool.....

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Summary: Preparation

Preparation: is the single most important thing you can do to ensure a successful outcome to a first meeting. Give it sufficient time.

Having researched someone and their company beforehand pays them a compliment.

Use the information wisely, be informed. Test your understanding rather than stating it.

Remember: The person opposite you has a history and an agenda- which you currently dont know!

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Preparation

The meeting

Post meeting

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2. The meeting

There are four key elements to the meeting:

The meeting plan

Opening The Call

The questioning strategy

Closing

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A. The Meeting Plan

Vital element in any successful meeting

I prefer to do it about an hour before the meeting.

Involve the whole team even if you are going alone

If more than one person-agree roles!

Lots of pro-formas exist- choose one that suits you

Three examples below (downloads available)...

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http://www.plan2winsoftware.com/applications/precallplanning

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B. Opening The Call

You only get one chance to create a professional impression

Standard 4 stage process:

1. Who? (Introduction)

2. Why? (WIIFM)

3. What? (Objectives)

4. How? (Agenda)

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C. Questioning Strategy

In the case of your first meeting you are essentially undertaking a fact find

Subsequent meetings will be at different stages of the sales cycle and require different approaches.

Three key basics:

1. Use a list of key topic areas to structure the questioning (pre-populated).

2.Use the Inverted Triangle or T Bar questioning methodology

3. Variety of questioning types

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Overall Questioning Structure

Define the areas you wish to find out about. Different for different groups of people (see next slide)

Pre-populate with information you have discovered during preparation. Check this during the meeting by questions to test your understanding.

Have prompts/ queues for areas you need to probe

Conduct the interview in a conversational manner and follow the lead of the questionee. It should not seem like an interrogation!

Resist the temptation to offer views/advice or conclusions at this stage!

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Topic lists

Simple list (template)

Pro forma approach

Company Details

Company structure

Company strategy and competition

Financials

People

Operations

Sales and Marketing

Personal

Include: questions/facts/prompts

Bones of an Account Plan

Shareable with client!

See next slide for example

(downloadable)

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Questioning Methodology: Funnel, T Bar, Inverted Triangle

Broad Discussion

Drill Down

Isolate the key issues

Confirm the issues

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Question Types

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Cont.....

More detailed document on the question types and how to use them in the supporting Docs (download)

Active listening is just as important as questioning!

Check your pre research by asking confirmatory and probing questions

Dont be tempted to offer opinions or conclusions at this stage - even if pressed- this meeting is a fact find!

(Questioning Exercise if Time)

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D. The Close

Most important phase: your prospect is at his most receptive!

This is when you go for your stretch objectives!!

Formally draw the meeting to an end with an appropriate statement.

Say what you are going to do next in terms of pulling the material together and drawing some conclusions

Offer to send the material to him/her

Ask for a meeting to discuss it and set a date and time

Go for your stretch objective

Leave quickly and decisively

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Preparation

The meeting

Post meeting

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3.Post Meeting

If the first two phase have been executed well, then this is the real added value phase where you prepare the ground for the sales campaign:

a. Diagnostic

b. Analytics

c. Report back

d. Solution design

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a. Diagnostic

The background information should be written up as a diagnostic or in a business plan format

It is useful to document as much as possible because if the prospect becomes a customer you will need an Account Plan

The Account Plan will be a key document for sharing knowledge and communicating with other resources in the future. (it is vital piece of IPR)

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b. Analytics

It can prove useful to try and put together some analytics from the information collected.

This demonstrates understanding and added value to prospects.

Potential Diagnostics:

SWOT

PEST :Environmental Analysis

Force Field Analysis ( bridge to action)

Examples and downloads follow.

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Environmental Analysis (PEST)

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SWOT

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Force Field Analysis

What is Force Field Analysis

What is Force Field Analysis and how do we use one of the great change management tools for managing change in the workplace and for achieving successful organizational change management strategies? Well just about anyone who knows what is force field analysis will say that it works as one of the effective change management tools used as part of the organizational change process and business improvement initiatives. Of the many possible change management methodologies available, as a change management consultant we train clients to use the force field analysis tool to bring the project enablers and restraining forces out into the open. When managing change in the workplace we use force field analysis to assign actions to required activities and to get important things done. It is also one of the great change management tools for achieving effective communication in the workplace and effective business meetings. So let's begin looking at force field analysis, 'a great change management tool!' How do we identify, sort through and deal with the forces that are working for and against us when we are trying to implement any type of change in the workplace? Imagine now we are doing a project implementation. What are the aspects of the business, people of influence, the decision makers, and the systems and processes which are driving and enabling the project to be successful? And who and what are the aspects that are restraining or disabling the project? Generally, regardless of what it is, improved infrastructure, new processes, people, or systems, strategies, and so on, there will be those who want things to remain the same (keep the status quo) and those who are pushing for change. Generally we find ourselves in a negative situation for the business, with these two forces working against each other.

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Issues & actions

In many ways this should come before FFA, because FFA is about how you address issues and instigate change.

Need to produce a list of the potential issues you have identified and their implications for the business.

Include all issues- even ones ultimately you cannot help with.

See next for example.

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Issues/Solutions Summary

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c. Report back

How you do this is very much a matter of personal preference, and the rapport you have established with the prospect.

You can share your analysis and your ideas for solutions before the meeting or you can hold them back.

My personal preference is to share as much as possible to demonstrate the potential value you can add. Delicate balance.

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d. Solution Design

Now the hard bit starts.......

Between now and the meeting you have to develop your solution to the issues identified along with the costs and benefits etc!

But thats another set of skills.....

Defining the costs and benefits

Articulating the case

Gaining commitment

Closing the sale

Etc.

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Summary

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First meeting are difficult for both parties involved!

There are techniques that can help

Preparation is the key. This gives you the key advantage!

A first meeting should take half a day in preparation.

Use the information and tools available.

Spend time planning the meeting.

Conduct the fact find effectively- avoid speculation.

Follow up and demonstrate you can add value and are a valuable business partner.

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Presentation and Downloads

Copy of presentation and downloads:

https://www.box.com/s/dcafiui298zyz4il65w1

Contact

email: [email protected]

Twitter: @mastersassoc

LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/richardmastersj

G+: google.com/+RichardMasters

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How to do a great first meeting.

Business

Transcript of How to do a great first meeting.