How To Win A Business Meeting in 3 Easy Steps

business meeting

Starting new business relationships, cold-calling, trying to get an appointment, and figuring out what to do during that appointment are the most stressful, disliked, and avoided parts of selling.

That’s because they’re difficult.

The key is that if you offer and deliver a perceived value, you will get the meeting you need. From there, you will be able to continue building rapport long enough to establish credibility.

Leveling the Ratio

When you meet a new prospect, the fear-to-credibility ratio is usually not in your favor: in other words, their fear of you is high—largely because—your credibility with them is low. In the following steps, we will work to level the ratio and establish credibility before your first business meeting with a new prospect. Your rising credibility will in turn win you the business meeting with your buyer.

The relationship between you and your buyer should begin as early as possible—before the buying process begins. The way to do this is to bring value to the client in the form of market intelligence. The goal is to make their eyes pop with new information (trends and statistics about their market that they don’t know, or a new way to look at the information) that not only creates rapport and gives you valuable time with the client, but also establishes you as an authority.

Getting Valuable Face Time

Before you can talk to the buyer and begin to build rapport, you have to get them face-to-face.

Here are the steps that will get you into the office. Your scripted opening, which can be delivered over the phone or via email, should include the following elements:

1. Say hello.

Include your connection, the person you both know, and the reason you are calling. Identify yourself and your company. Ask for a short amount of their time, and ask for it in a specific minute number. For example, “Do you have four minutes to talk?”

2. Mention that the buyer’s market is changing fast.

Note that you have assembled third-party research that will astound them, and give them a few examples. Let them know that the report is free, and that you have condensed down several hundred pages of raw data into 22 minutes.

3. Call them to action.

Ask “Does this sound like something you would be interested in?”

Once you have set a time and date, the pressure is off both of you. But you’re not finished yet! While your buyer is relaxed, ask them what the biggest challenges are that they and their company are facing.

Before you get off the phone, also be sure to ask who else needs to attend, because now is the time to fill the business meeting with everyone of influence, everyone who could give you the opportunity to win. Secure the email addresses of your contact person, and when you are off the phone, send an immediate confirmation email. (Send another as the day approaches. Two days out is an appropriate time period.)

To Recap

  1. Develop your scripted opening to include an introduction, free education-based briefing, and a call to action.

  2. Open the rapport by asking what your prospect’s challenges are. This will guide you in what information to include in the education-based briefing.

  3. Stack the meeting with all the influential attendees.

  4. Confirm the time and date itself.

Guess what? You’ve won the business meeting! Spend the time leading up to the event building an education-based briefing that will cultivate your rapport and credibility in their field.