If you or anyone in your team is struggling to open a client meeting effectively or if you feel awkward and lost for words, and your client or prospect is shifting in their seat, then you need an agenda.
One of the best ways you can kick off a client meeting is with an agenda. An agenda guides you, keeps you and your client on track and lets everyone know what the client meeting is about. Does this mean you stick to the agenda all the way? Well, probably not, because with any agenda things can change.
However, beginning with a clear agenda is a good place to start.
So how do you go about setting up an agenda with a client or prospect?
It all begins with the telephone call you make to your client or prospect about your intention to arrange an appointment with them in the first place. What is your reason for calling them? Is it to arrange an account review, or is it a new prospect call to meet and introduce yourself as a potential business partner, or is it something else?
How clear you are about why you are making contact with a prospect or client is critical to getting off on the right foot. Having a Valid Business Reason to call a client or prospect gives you the support you need when prospecting and positioning yourself to get a meeting. This initial contact will then determine your meeting agenda. So, assuming you have a meeting booked with your client or prospect and assuming that you stated clearly why you wanted to meet them and assuming they have agreed to meet with you and could see something in it for them, you are now in a position to create an agenda.
What should you put in the agenda?
Think about the following questions and they will give you the answers you seek:
- What do we (client and ourselves) want to get out of the client meeting?
- How long will the meeting take?
- Who needs to be in attendance?
- Who will be in attendance?
- What will be discussed in principle?
- What type of client meeting is it?
- New prospect meeting/initial meeting
- Presentation of a proposal or tender
- Account review
- Win back meeting for a lapsed or lost account
- What are the desired outcomes for both parties?
Sending an email with bullet points outlining your agenda two days before the scheduled meeting is usually good business protocol especially for a straight forward client/prospect meeting. However, you may like to type up a document for more complex meetings and send it out sooner so they have time to read over it and consider any items before you meet; it all depends on what you want to achieve.
Excellence in your work, at any level, comes from purposeful action. What is your intention, your purpose or your goal? An agenda is about establishing an intention, a purpose. It’s about making it clear for all concerned. Winston Churchill once said “if you don’t know where you are going, then every road will lead you nowhere”.
Remember everybody lives by selling something.
Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au
Sue
I caught your blog as I track Winston Churchill.
I am a salesman by trade of 20 years in the UK Telecoms Sector. I recently published a book called What Churchill Would Do which takes Churchill’s talents for managing WW2 and applies them to modern business. Whilst it isn’t a sales book I use examples from my own business career to show how Winston’s talents can be put into use in real world situations.
It has alot of WW2 history in to keep it interesting. I have put a link to the second chapter which gives a good idea about the style of the book.
Don’t see Winston quoted in a sales context too often so I thought I would drop you a line.
Stuart