Below are some of the objectives that you will have for the meeting; however, don’t neglect to ask about their objectives. Their objectives are much more important than yours.
Qualify the prospect
This is an obvious one. If the opportunity is not a good fit for your company, then you don’t want to waste your time or theirs. If you sell advertising and the prospect has already spent its advertising budget for this year and next year, it’s probably best to keep in touch for now and not make them a top priority.
Relationship building
I had a great boss that would say, “There are three things a customer evaluates when making a decision. Price, Service, and Relationship”. He was right. Out of the three, the relationship is most important. The first meeting is your only chance to make a great first impression.
Learn about their current & future buying process
What happened in the past is important. What is going to happen in the future is even more important. I like to ask about what’s changing. This information will give you an edge if your competitors fail to ask about it.
What’s important to them / What motivates them
People usually make decisions based on what’s most important to them. If you’re offering something in your proposal that will help your prospect personally, you’re much more likely to win the business. It’s all about what’s in it for them.
What pain do they have / What you offer that the current vendor is not offering
The client may have pain they don’t even realize they have. Ask open-ended questions to probe for pain points. Be prepared to discuss a taste of what your company can do to ease the pain. See my post on How to Run a Successful First Meeting for examples of questions you can ask.
How are decisions made?
Find out who the real decision-makers are. There are usually several people involved in making the decisions and one person that needs to sign-off on the decision. If possible, meet with all of them.
Get introduced to others
You will not only want to meet the decision-makers, but also the people that influence the decisions. This may be the people that place the orders, the receiving department, accounts payable, etc.
How do they analyze cost?
If they don’t already realize that cost is more than just the price, help them realize it. Total Cost of Ownership is how they should measure cost.
Establish your relevance and purpose
Your purpose is much higher than being just another supplier submitting a proposal. You want the client to view you as a trusted resource they can work with for guidance and advice. Be helpful. Offer your support for benchmarking, offer to be a secondary supplier, advisor, etc.
Agree on the next steps
Always have a planned outcome and schedule the next step at the end of the meeting. Mark it on your calendar and get agreement from the customer. Ideally, there will be a clearly defined and actionable next step. If they tell you to follow up in a few weeks, or if they say they will contact you when they’re ready, then the next step may never happen.
