Just getting a meeting on a prospect’s calendar is a big step in the B2B sals process, but the meeting itself makes or breaks your deal. Preparation is everything. Use the following six best practices for meeting preparation to help you plan a successful meeting:
1. Learn Everything You Can About Your Prospect
An effective sales strategy starts with a solid understanding of your prospect’s business before the meeting. With so much information online, it’s unacceptable to pitch a product to a potential customer without at least knowing the basics about their business. Your prospects will expect you to be familiar with their products or services and their market. If you lack this information before the meeting, you’ll waste precious selling time trying to learn it on the spot. Use that time to explain how your products can enhance your prospects’ work. Sales Intelligence tools can provide you with all the information you need in one place, but not everyone has access to them. Other useful ways to gather information on your prospects include:
- Visiting their website
- Visiting their social media sites
- Reading their blogs
- Looking for current press releases on the Internet
- Search for news articles about the company
- Performing an Internet search on key executives at the company
2. Learn About Your Prospect’s Competitors
By studying your prospect’s competitors, you may find a way for your products or services to help your prospects beat their competition. Research your prospect’s competitors on the Internet using the same techniques described above.
3. Make a Plan
Having a successful meeting is tough without a plan. A plan helps the meeting go well and keeps you and your partners aligned. It also allows you to guide the meeting and show your authority and confidence to your prospects. A solid business meeting plan should cover:
- A meeting agenda
- A list of customer participants and their roles
- The prospect’s needs
- The goals for the meeting
4. Have a Pre-Meeting
Hold a meeting with your co-workers before the meeting with your prospects so you can go over your business meeting plan. This will ensure that you and your coworkers are on the same page and completely understand the goals of the meeting.
5. Put Together an Outline
A written outline highlighting your products or services makes it easier for your prospects to comprehend and retain your pitch. The outline should be simple so your prospects can easily scan each point as you discuss it.
6. Meeting Reminder
Being late to a B2B sales meeting is a sure way to start out on a bad foot. It sends the message to your prospects that your company is not reliable and that you have little regard for their time. Avoid this problem by calling your co-workers the day before the meeting to remind them of the meeting time and place.