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How To Run Your First Meeting With A Prospect
crane.vc
Quoted on this wiki
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So your goal in this first meeting is simply to do three things well: “Understand what their high-priority problem is (and whether your solution is a good fit)” Show enough of your product so they believe you may be able to solve this problem
As counterintuitive as it sounds, the goal of your first meeting is not to sell your solution. “At any point in a sales cycle, it’s important to understand what the prospect needs to believe to move to the next stage in their buying cycle.” In the first meeting, what they probably need to believe is that you may be able to solve a problem that is high priority for them, and that you seem a credible person and company to talk further with about solving this problem.
The goal of your first meeting with a prospect “As counterintuitive as it sounds, the goal of your first meeting is not to sell your solution.” At any point in a sales cycle, it’s important to understand what the prospect needs to believe to move to the next stage in their buying cycle.
At any point in a sales cycle, it’s important to understand what the prospect needs to believe to move to the next stage in their buying cycle. “In the first meeting, what they probably need to believe is that you may be able to solve a problem that is high priority for them, and that you seem a credible person and company to talk further with about solving this problem.” So your goal in this first meeting is simply to do three things well:
Show enough of your product so they believe you may be able to solve this problem “Get them booked in for the next meeting” We’ll come back to each of these as we go through the meeting phases.
Understand what their high-priority problem is (and whether your solution is a good fit) “Show enough of your product so they believe you may be able to solve this problem” Get them booked in for the next meeting
You’ll want to make the best use of your and their time, so this will: “Remind them about the meeting ( reducing no-shows)” Set an upfront meeting “contract” (see below and at the end of this blog for an example agenda email)