9 years ago
January 7, 2015

How to Improve Your Sales Meetings

Here are a few ways to power up those sales meetings and turn your last obstacle into a paved road to sales success.

Rhys Metler

A savvy salesman knows that once he’s secured sales meetings, he’s in the final stretch. The hurdles of lead generation, that vital first introduction, building enough interest that the potential client will sit down for an extended face-to-face-if you’re doing this consistently, you know your stuff.

But there’s still room to trip in that last few yards to the finish line. A perfectly primed potential can still walk away if you botch your sales meetings, and not every person you have sales meetings with is perfectly primed. So today we’re going to discuss a few ways to power up those sales meetings and turn your last obstacle into a paved road to sales success.

These three tips should give you the push you need to make that final step to greatness:

Have More Information Than You Need For Your Sales Meetings

Really, it’s almost impossible to have ‘too much information’ about the client and the products you are selling at hand and in your head, but aiming for that lofty height should get you what you need. The more you know, the better your meetings will go, period.

You can create strong personal bonds quickly and effectively with enough information about the client. You will often be able to figure out what questions they will ask you well in advance; very handy, when some of those questions might be incredibly difficult to handle without prior preparation.

Information about your own product matters, too; if your sales meeting goes somewhere unexpected, will you be able to keep up with the client’s questions? If they have legitimate concerns about features, will you be able to explain that feature and explain how other clients have navigated those issues?

Information reigns supreme in sales meetings, as it does everywhere else, so do you homework!

Sales Meetings Should Focus On The Buyer

Don’t let your sales meetings become nightmarish quests into the depths of your company’s history or in-person presentations of your advertising. You have a potential client in front of you looking to solve a problem; if you did your homework, you know more than enough about that client, their problem, and the solution you can provide to build a customer-focused presentation.

Talk about their problems and the solutions they need. If you can name problems the client faces or will face before they bring it up themselves, you’re in a very strong position. Just keep in mind one simple fact: The only person in the room who cares about your company’s success and history is you; the client wants to know whether your company will help THEM, not whether it’s helped other people.

Keep The Buyer Invested In Your Sales Meetings

If you’ve built a buyer-focused presentation, this may or may not have taken care of itself, but remember to keep the buyer involved in the process. Take advantage of the fact that you are communicating with the buyer to really grab their attention-ask them questions, let them interact with your product if possible.

When one of your sales meetings is about to end, make sure you have them invested in some way; if you’re letting sales meetings end with only a vague “we’ll talk again soon” then you’re putting the entire relationship at jeopardy. Set up the next meeting immediately, or at the very least put the ball in their court in such a way that they MUST act.

Again: Don’t Let Sales Meetings End On A Vague Note!

Rhys Metler

Rhys is a tenacious, top performing Senior Sales Recruiter with 15+ years of focused experience in the Digital Media, Mobile, Software, Technology and B2B verticals. He has a successful track record of headhunting top performing sales candidates for some of the most exciting brands in North America. He is a Certified Recruitment Specialist (CRS) and has expert experience in prospecting new business, client retention/renewals and managing top performing sales and recruitment teams. Rhys enjoys spending quality time with his wife, son, and daughters, BBQing on a hot summer day and tropical vacations.

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