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APRIL 2006
Capitalize on the People You Meet Each Week
In recent training classes I have conducted, I have been asking the following question, "How many of you are meeting buyers or influencers on some regular basis, only to find that these introductions are going nowhere"? In a recent coaching call, and sales person and I were discussing a recent meeting with a CIO. The sales person had finally been given a time to meet with the decision maker - a critical part of the selling process. On our call I asked the seller if he had left the meeting with an open invitation to call on that CIO in the near future. In other words, did you leave having truly built a relationship, or did it end with the typical response, "Thanks for coming buy. Let me know how things turn out". The latter answer seems to be consistent across almost every group I ask. If we are going to take the time to gain access to the buyers, it is critical that we find ways to develop that relationship to trusted advisor status.
1. Test your message
I have said in the past that Trusted Advisors must be trusted, and...must be able to advise. If you don't add value to the relationship, building the relationship is going to be hard. But there is more. Getting the chance to share your value requires a message that grabs your audience quickly. Are you testing your message? Start watching how people you meet respond to your introduction. Are they exchanging cards just to be polite, or are they asking you to come by and tell them more? Try changing your greeting to reflect something valuable.
2. Find out what is valuable to them
In my coaching practice, I like to use a simple formula to create a greeting that sounds something like, "You know how hard it is to keep your data safe when it is sitting out on peoples laptops, running through airports, and being accessed from remote locations like the new McDonalds wireless network"? "Well our company has a program to address that". A question that allows your new contact to relate to an obvious issue out there, with an emphesis of focus you are putting on addressing that issue. The answer I expect is, "Tell me more". There may be a number of ways to solicit a response, but if you aren't getting invitations, your introduction needs to change. Come up with something that creates curiosity.
3. Consistently add value
Not every initial meeting turns into in a long time friendship but value over time creates a lasting relationship. Start taking note of who you are meeting, who is initially interested in your message, and then find out what they are really interested in. Take time on a regular basis to contact them with information that helps them grow their business and be more successful in their position. Over time you may be the only one doing this.
3. Don't let this happen
No matter what happens, don't be fooled into thinking that the formal meetings with no follow up are really contributing to your business. Too many times people tell me they are meeting with the CIO as though that automatically guarantees them the business. Not so. Most of these meetings are spent in formal one-way presentations. No relationship is established and the trusted advisor is not you. The other side of this is the frequent excuse that we cant reach the buyer in this account, so we just gave the proposal to the IT person.
Make every introduction count whether it is a buyer, an influencer, or a user of the systems your company sells. Measure results by constantly watching for the expressions that demonstrate boredom, enthusiasm, curiosity, etc. Memorize your messaging rather than shooting from the hip, and then customize it to the situation. Great movies always have a great script. Once you have the script, you can adapt it to almost any situation.
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"... In the past several months your coaching has taught me more than my ten years of technology sales experience..".
(Manuel Navarro, Praxis Computing)
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