Doing the fundamentals well can be devastatingly effective. With that in mind, I sat down to summarize the basics of a good early-stage sales meeting.
My primary audience is those who are new in some sense. These could be salespeople who are new to the profession, companies that are creating a new sales process, or non-salespeople who find that they need to persuade others to act for mutual benefit.
If you fall into these categories, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of new information about your product and the complexity of understanding a customer. You’ll get the most mileage out of being sure you do the basics well before you try out the latest thing.
I’m also writing for experienced salespeople who want to check in with the fundamentals. I often find that core principles mean more to me when I think about them again after gaining more experience. I also discover areas where I’ve either gotten sloppy or could refine my practice.
With that in mind, here’s a summary of the fundamentals of a good early stage-sales meeting.
1. Decide What You Want To Accomplish
Your objective is to create a win-win business relationship if that is possible with this prospect.
That normally means that you want to do three things:
- Uncover the prospect’s level of fit with your product
- If they are a fit, get the prospect’s agreement to take actions that advance the process
- Commit the right level of future resources to the prospect based on the prospect’s level of fit and agreement to action
Determining fit is the most important objective because it helps you use your resources effectively. Running a sales process well takes a lot of time and effort and trying to sell to one company means not trying to sell to another.
Emotions can drive our resource allocation decisions. We are wired to respond to people who like us, to make people happy by fulfilling their requests, and to avoid talking to people who seem resistant.
These impulses can lead us astray. Many prospects will never purchase regardless of how much they like you because your product is not a fit. You may also encounter marginal-fit prospects who demand a lot of resources or high-fit prospects who seem resistant.
Decide what resources to commit based on the facts by making a list: What would make a prospect a fit? What would make them a non-fit? How important is each factor?
At the simplest level, the prospect needs to have the type of problem that you solve, be the type of company you work with, and find value in the distinctive features of your product. Conversely, there are some problems you don’t solve, types of companies you don’t work with, and significant features you don’t have.
The most important factors are those you can’t overcome with persuasion. If the prospect does not have the right type of problem or is not the right type of company, there is nothing you can do. By contrast, if the prospect wants features that aren’t actually necessary for solving their problem or does not understand the problem they have, you can educate them.
Making this list requires that you understand your product, your customers, and your competitors. You may not. You may also find that your understanding has changed since you last thought about these questions or that you are spending a lot of time on prospects who are not a fit.
If the prospect is a fit, you want them to either agree to follow a process for evaluating your product according to a specific timeline or agree to give you access to someone who has the power to agree to such a process. Agreeing to talk again later on without a clear agenda is not win.
Come to the conversation ready to propose a decision process maximizes your chances to win and uses your resources judiciously. The prospect may not know how their organization makes this type of decision, so you can influence their process by proposing your own.
Prospects will often want something in exchange for taking action. That is usually additional information that helps them understand whether your product will be useful in their situation, such as collateral, proposals, or software demos. You may also have information that helps them succeed but that is not directly related to your product, such as industry information or advice on best practices.
Be ready to state what resources you will commit in exchange for what agreement to action. Have a range of options available depending on the prospect’s agreement to act and level of fit.
If the prospect commits to action in many small steps, you should commit resources in many small steps. You don’t want to commit all your resources only to find out that the prospect was just exploring.
Have progressively higher levels of resources you can offer in exchange for more agreement to action. For example, you might be willing to do a full demo if the prospect introduces you to two of the people who will be influential in making the decision. You might be willing to prepare a custom proposal if the prospect agrees to a reasonable timeline for a decision and to gives you access to the person who controls the budget.
Create something easily reproducible that you can give to anyone who acts professionally even if they are not a fit. This resource should help a prospect reactivate themselves if their situation changes and give them a way to introduce others to your product. It’s always good to reciprocate courtesy and doing so creates the reputation that will be the foundation of your success.
2. Agree On An Agenda
The meeting should benefit both parties and follow a predictable flow. The way to do this is to negotiate the agenda before diving in.
In a normal initial sales call, this can be as simple as opening the call by saying:
It’s great to be speaking with you. I’d like to begin by sharing a proposed agenda. Our overall goal is to see if our product might be a fit for your needs. To that end, I propose that we start with a round of introductions and then discuss your objectives. I can then provide a summary of our service that’s relevant to those objectives. After that, we can decide what next steps make sense, if any. How does that sound?
For important meetings, negotiate the agenda and the attendees in advance. If you need the prospect’s VP to be there to get the right agreement to action, specifically request that she attend. Offer to bring a VP from your side if necessary; executives are more likely to make time to speak with other executives. If you find out that the prospect’s VP won’t be there after all, reschedule.
Consider holding access to your senior people in reserve so you can trade that access for access to the other side’s senior people.
3. Establish Rapport
It’s fashionable to say that a good relationship is the consequence of a well-run sales process rather than the cause of it.
This strikes me as an overstatement. I wouldn’t spend a half hour on an initial sales call talking about your hobbies, but it’s worth investing a few minutes humanizing yourself and getting to know the prospect.
This can be as simple as telling the story of how you came to your current company and why you care about the product you sell. In two minutes, you can demonstrate that you have good motives and help the prospect to open up.
Rapport has business benefits. You want the prospect to share information, help you navigate their buying process, introduce you to their colleagues and other buying centers, collaborate to solve any contract or service issues, and ultimately to serve as a reference for business with other customers.
These are all at least partly extras that they don’t really have to do but are more likely to do if they feel warmly toward you.
Creating a positive work environment also maximizes your emotional energy. Emotional energy is a resource, like time. You’ll face many calls on this resource. Sales involves rejection, uncertainty, and working with challenging people. If you like a lot of your customers and they like you, it will increase your level of energy and make it easier to perform at your best.
4. Determine Fit
Determine fit before you pitch. The facts you uncover will help you know how to pitch and whether you should pitch at all.
Ask broad, open questions at the beginning and then come back to ask more specific questions to clear up anything that’s unresolved.
Your aim is to see if your fit criteria are present and your no-fit criteria are absent. No-fit questions are painful to ask, but you want to know the answers now so you can plan the right next actions.
These are some questions that make sense in most sales meetings. Ideally, you ask all the people you’re talking to and ask them how their colleagues feel as well.
Be ready for a prospect to be reluctant to share information, to ask you to “just give me a pitch,” or to want to focus the conversation on just their questions.
You should respond that learning about the their situation will help you know what information would be most helpful and will lead to a better use of everyone’s time. If the prospect is still reluctant to share information, you can deliver an abbreviated pitch and then come back to your questions.
I recommend asking these questions in roughly the order they’re presented.
“What are your goals this year as it relates to [the area of your product]?”
Many customers will tell you 80% of what you need to know in response to this question. Be sure to tend their answer by asking short follow up questions like: “Why is that?”, “Oh, how so?”, “How did that impact you?”, and “What’s an example of that?” This will help them share all their thoughts on the subject.
“What’s the business impact you’re looking to have?”
You’re going to ask the prospect for money. To justify that request, you need to understand the value to them.
You’ll know you’ve gotten to the answer when they’ve told you about saving time, reducing risk, saving money, or making money. If you feel like you’re close but not quite there, ask: “And what’s the impact of solving that problem?” To add urgency, ask: “What would happen if you couldn’t solve that problem?”
Some prospects won’t know the answer to this question. That may be a sign that they’re junior and you need to speak with the real decision maker.
“What’s motivating the desire to find a solution?”
This will help you understand why the prospect feels urgency and what their objective is. You can refer back to this as you try to persuade the prospect to act more quickly.
“What’s the scale of the project you’re considering?”
“Scale” is code for “How many dollars will you spend?” This will tell you how much time the opportunity is worth; if any. Most sales processes have a dollar figure below which it’s just not worth pursuing an opportunity.
To challenge a prospect who is considering a small scale, ask: “Why is that the scale you’re considering? Based on the goals you’ve discussed, do you think that scale will accomplish your objectives?”
Some prospects won’t know the scale of their project. That tells you that you’re at an early stage and the opportunity probably isn’t yet worth a lot of your time.
“In an ideal world, when would you roll out a solution?”
Prospects who are about to make a decision are worth a lot of your time now while prospects who are just exploring merit some off the shelf information and organized follow up. To challenge a prospect who is considering a lengthy timeline, ask: “Based on the goals you’ve discussed, do you think that timeline will accomplish your objectives?”
“Tell me about what you’re doing now? What are some of the pros and cons of the current situation?”
This is a low pressure way to prompt them to share what’s not working and what they want to fix.
“A lot of my customers are looking for [X]. Is that important to you? Why is that?”
Sometimes, there’s something very specific you think is true but the prospect hasn’t confirmed it. This question will test your assumption.
“One strength of our product is [X]. Is that important to you? Why is that?”
Come back to your list of fit and no fit criteria before you complete your questions and cover anything that’s left. If there’s something that’s still open, this is a great way to ask a direct question. Obviously, it will speed the process if the prospect cares about your strengths.
“Some customers are looking for [X]. Honestly, that is not something our product is focused on. Is [X] one of your priorities? What is the underlying objective you are trying to achieve with [X]?”
Remember that you care as much about the no-fit criteria as the fit criteria. If there’s a deal killer, ask about it now so you can get out of a sales process that isn’t going anywhere. Even if you don’t uncover a deal killer, you will establish your honesty with the prospect.
At the same time, you want to be able to educate the prospect if they want the wrong features for their goals. Bringing the conversation back to their goals will help you understand if you can persuade them.
“What else would you like me to know as I go about designing a solution for you?”
This is a great last chance for the prospect to say what’s really on her mind or share any new thoughts that have come up during the conversation thus far.
There are also a few techniques that you’ll find useful throughout this phase of the conversation. Here’s one good thing to say:
“As you’re considering that question, what are some of the factors on your mind?”
It’s fair for prospects to not know the answers to all your questions, but they can usually tell you what they care about. This question will give you a window into their thinking and a hint about whether your solution is positioned correctly.
“That’s interesting. Let me see if I’ve got that right. [Summary of prospect’s statement.] Did I summarize that correctly?”
This is useful when the prospect said something good or when you want to be sure you understand where they’re coming from. We have a tendency to interpret vague comments in the best light. Summarizing them back either confirms and emphasizes something good or shows you that you were engaging in wishful thinking.
Keep yourself organized by drawing a clear line between the fit phase and the pitch. If the prospect asks questions about your product, give a brief answer and defer the details. You can say something like: “Yes, we can do that. Would it be alright if I tell you more about that in a couple minutes during my summary of our service?”
5. Pitch
People spend a lot of time thinking about how to pitch. Videos, demos, slides, webinars, stories, and events are all good methods.
But what you say in your pitch is much more important than how you say it. Getting the basics right will deliver most of the value.
Tell the prospect:
- The problem you solve
- Why that problem is important, ideally to that specific company and person
- The benefit of solving that problem, ideally in dollar terms and ideally for that specific company and person
- Why your solution is different from alternatives, including perhaps the problems with other solutions
- How your solution is a fit for their specific circumstances
- The key features you use to solve that problem
You can deliver a shockingly good pitch if you just fill in the blanks below and then say these to a prospect without any other aids:
- “The problem we solve is [X]”
- “This problem is important for companies like yours because [X]”
- “Solving this problem has large benefits such as [X]”
- “What sets us apart is [X]”
- “In your situation, you’ll particularly benefit from [X]”
- “Here are some details on how we get this done. [X]”
When you feel like you have a fair grasp of the basics, consider adding elements like these:
- Experiential elements, like a demo
- Stories of customers you’ve helped and the results they’ve achieved
- A provocative point of view, such as: “Most companies are making a mistake by doing [X].”
- Insights on industry trends that teach toward your product, such as: “The cloud is changing everything and we can help you take advantage of it.”
- Things you don’t do so everyone walks away understanding what’s on offer
Questions can be the most important part of the pitch because they let you know what’s not clear and help you take the prospect’s temperature. You should ask the prospect if she has questions at least three times during the pitch.
Good questions have structures like: “Is that a problem you’ve experienced?” or “Does that seem like it would be useful to you?”
The surprising thing about the pitch is that it’s the least important part of the meeting. If you don’t know who is a fit for your product, are talking to someone who isn’t a fit, or can’t get them to agree to take action, you’ve wasted your time.
But if you get all those other things right and give a merely passable pitch that clearly states the problem you solve and what’s different about your product, you’ll do OK.
In fact, if you’re short on time, it’s fine to cut the pitch short. Say “there are some other details I’d love to share later on if it makes sense, but we’re short on time and I want to be sure we plan the next steps that will be most valuable to you.”
6. Agree On Next Steps
Everything you’ve done was designed to get you to this point.
Stop talking for a moment and ask a few questions to determine if this is a promising opportunity.
“What do you think of [our solution]?”
Asking directly will tell you if you should drop the conversation or give you momentum to start asking action oriented questions and proposing next steps.
“What concerns do you have?”
Get them on the table. You might have missed a red flag earlier on.
“What factors will be important in making the decision?”
Would it be nice if they told you exactly what you have to show in order to win the business?
“Has budget been set aside for this initiative?”
You need to know the answer and if they liked the pitch, they’re more likely to answer this question.
If these answers demonstrate promise, ask questions that set you up to propose next steps.
“In addition to you, who else will be involved in making the decision?”
You need to figure out who else is involved so you can propose a meeting with all the key players.
“Who will the sponsor be? By sponsor, I mean whose budget will be devoted to this initiative?”
Not all players are created equal. Normally one has primary control over the budget and you need to know who that is.
“What questions do you think your colleagues will ask when you report back?”
This helps you uncover the concerns of the people you’re not yet talking to and what you can do to help persuade them. Much of the decision will be made in conversations where you are not present. You want to be sure that your ideas and information drive those discussions.
“In an ideal world, when would you bring a new solution on board?”
They might not have answered this question before and their answer might have changed after your pitch. In either case, it’s worth emphasizing their date so you can use it to create a schedule around the next actions.
Now it’s time to propose specific next actions. Ideally, they’ve given you a specific timeline for launching a new solution. If so, you can say:
“Let’s work backwards from your target date. It normally takes us [X] long to implement, so we’ll need to have the contract signed by [Y]. That means we’ll need to get everyone’s approval by [Z]. Does that sound feasible to you? How would we go about rounding up that support?”
If you don’t know enough to propose a process or don’t feel that they’re ready for one, you can ask:
“Tell me what the steps will be in your decision making process.”
Then follow up to attach specific dates to each next action.
At this point, prospects may start asking you for resources, such as demos or custom proposals. Each of these has a time-cost associated with it. Be willing to make greater commitments if the prospect is committing to clearer actions.
You may need to push back on a request. You can say one of the following:
“That might be premature at this point. Normally, that’s helpful when a company is ready to do [X]. Do you feel like you’re at that stage now?”
“We’re a small team with limited resources, so I need to be thoughtful about the promises I make. I can do [X] if you’re able to do [Y]. Does that work for you?”
Close by summarizing exactly what your joint goal is and what actions each side has agreed to take.
7. Follow Up
The first few sentences of a follow up email should usually cover the same topics.
First, affirm the relationship. This can be as simple as: “It was great to speak with you,” but would ideally cite something specific that you thought was interesting about the conversation. Next, summarize why you think there’s a fit and what you think the opportunity is for the prospect. After that, state the next action you and the prospect have agreed to.
Once these points are complete, then provide the follow up materials you promised the prospect.
The more complex your sales process, the more important the follow up will be. Keep in mind the schedule you’ve agreed to and the prospect’s business reasons for moving forward on that timeline. Use these to hold everyone accountable.
If you’re selling sophisticated products to large enterprises, you may find that you are half a salesperson and half a project manager who makes sure that the right steps happen at the right time with all the right people involved.
This gets to a basic truth about sales: Organized conversations and organized process will lead to exceptional results.
