Driving to a meeting with potential client I was going in my mind through the information I gathered for this meeting and thought back to a time back in school.
Sitting in class I was called out as the first student to give a short verbal description about the content of the book we were given to read several days ago. With a deer in the headline look I stared at the teacher and finally remembered that we were asked to read this book and I just totally forgot.
The embarrassment I felt that day was earthshattering for me and at that moment I wished the earth would have opened up and swallowed me whole and later having to explain to my parents why I had to stay longer in school in detention because I did not do my homework was even harder.
Arriving at the potential client’s office I stepped into her office and we had a great meeting discussing her wants, needs and wishes. Thanks to being prepared for this meeting we were able to come up with a great solution for her and it was a solution she had not thought of.
It always shows to be prepared and my embarrassing moment in school taught me that lesson early in life or how Confucius put it; “Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.”
I LOVE this article. So many times my meetings are better when I have properly prepred rather than just “winging it”. I recently invested some time preparing for a meeting with a prospect I was referred to and because I had prepared a proposal custom designed for this prospect, I was able to turn this opportunity into a $2.5MM loan and a new relationship for Regions Bank.
Gary Player always says (among others-but I am a die hard golfer) “The harder I work, the luckier I get”.
Great reminder Bettina. Many sales reps go into a meeting thinking that because they’ve been selling the same thing for years, they can simply wing it. I go into every meeting and agenda and summary of potential outcomes.
I also go into every “first meeting” with a statement of problems that clients like my prospect have experienced. I hand that list over to the prospect and it’s amazing that they’ll point to 3 or more problems that they’re experiencing too. We can talk for a half hour about those issues (I don’t give them solutions) and really connect with them. Without this list, I’d just be poking an pecking at possible issues and going nowhere fast. The bottom line, preparation is vital.
you have a great blog right here!
Planning a Meeting and having a good agenda always shows you are prepared and cared. No chance of skipping important items. Easy for people to make notes. A win ,win situation.