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Tips for successful B2B sales meetings

Sales meetings are a vital part of business-to-business selling.

The more successful you are with them, the more money you can make for your business. So taking the time to have a structure in place for your sales meetings will save you time, increase your closing rate, and allow you to better predict the outcome of your sales efforts. Here are six tips that anyone in B2B sales should follow to maximise their sales:

1. Set objectives for the meeting — Make sure you know what you want to achieve from the meeting prior to even setting it up. Do you want the prospect to sign on the contract and hand you a cheque right then and there? Or do you want him to introduce you to the CEO so you can meet the person in charge of making the decision with regards to what you are selling? Another objective could be establishing whether the person you are meeting is in fact a prospect.

2. Communicate the agenda — When requesting or confirming a meeting, ensure the prospect knows what the purpose of the meeting is, and why it is in his interest to accept one. You will have much better chances of securing a meeting if you make the prospect feel that even if he doesn’t buy, he will be better off that he met with you. An example of how to do this is to position the meeting as a free “strategy session” or “consultation”, where you help the prospect be clearer about his priorities and requirements, whether he buys from you or not.

3. Ask the right questions — Before you meet the prospect, you should have a good idea about their business. So make sure your questions are focused on helping you understand whether you can improve their situation or not. “What are your three biggest issues?” and “How are those issues impacting your business?” are the types of questions you should be asking to understand pain points and uncover latent needs. You can then progress to questions that uncover explicit needs “How much time and money would you save if I helped you solve issues one and three?”. If you do this right, you will get the prospect to tell you how your solutions can help him.

4. Propose your solution — By now you should know if you can help the prospect, and have a good idea of what they need most that you can help with. Use this opportunity to empathise with the prospect: “I want you to know that the problems you are facing are common…”, and then share your approach: “I would first start off by doing so and so, and then so and so”. Make sure to explain the benefits of each stage of your proposed approach, and how they will solve the prospect’s problems. Then share your war stories of how you have helped others overcome the same types of problems: “We had a client that was faced with a similar problem. We helped them to save time/reduce costs/make more money, etc”.

5. Confirm commitment — Check whether what you have proposed addresses their key concerns. Are they satisfied with what you have proposed? Do they have any further concerns that you can clarify for them? Then summarise the benefits you have presented so it is clear what they will get out of working with you.

6. Finish the meeting by establishing next steps — Here you want to remember your meeting objectives and ensure they are achieved. Do you need to meet anyone else in the organisation? Does their senior management need a demonstration? Perhaps they would want more evidence of how you have helped others, in which case you could send them some client testimonials. If you feel the prospect sees the value of working with you, is fully comfortable with your approach, and is the economic buyer (the guy that signs on the cheque), then offer to provide a proposal, detailing when they’ll receive it and when you’ll next be in touch to discuss it.

If you spend a lot of time in sales meetings, it makes sense to have a structure to follow and a game plan for each of your meetings so you can increase sales and save time.

The writer is the managing director of ACK Solutions.