Meeting with Prospects

They have told us that there are two certainties in life – death and taxes. Though these are a few hard truths in life our business development life has one truth; you must be meeting with qualified prospects.

We are only selling when we are in front of “qualified” prospects. Selling is not typing information into our computer, preparing lists of things we intend to do, putting our material together or attending office meetings. These functions may be necessary in our daily business life, but remember that these administrative tasks are not part of selling skills. Selling will always be when we are in front of “qualified” prospects. The sooner you realize this the faster you will achieve great gross margin returns. Don’t be someone who is constantly getting ready to get ready. Let’s review what a “qualified” prospect is.

Qualified Staffing Prospect

  1. We have established a professional level of rapport.
  2. They have a need for the type of staffing we provide and they know it. We have established a volume usage.
  3. They have the financial resources to satisfy that need (not following this principle has been the downfall for many staffing services)

If these 3 criteria are met then we have a “qualified” prospect. Let’s not confuse “prospects” from “suspects”. A suspect is only a company that loosely fits the above criteria. Company names from an office park directory are only suspects.

It is important that we constantly hone our prospecting research skills to prioritize whom we eventually want to have a face-to-face meeting with. In my 22 years of selling temporary, direct hire, on-site and payrolling, I never used face to face

cold calling as a prospecting tool. There just seemed to be too much wasted windshield time driving around trying to get companies to give me information. There are still the hard-nosed faced to face cold calling believers out there who insist they bring in business using this method. All I can say is that even a broken clock is right twice a day. Like the old phone company commercial said, “Let your fingers do the walking”.

Okay, so now we have a qualified prospect that will meet with us, now what? Many clients I work with stop here and take an “I’ll wing it” approach. Try to take a few moments to prepare for your appointment. A little time researching your client’s business will assist in preparing what questions you are going to ask. Ask yourself what is the real purpose of the meeting? Is the real purpose of this meeting to get business? No, the real purpose of this and most first appointments is to determine if you can add any value to your prospect.

Remember this principle,

We do not sell because we need to make sales we sell so that when our prospect is ready to order, they will order from us!

Clients will buy when it’s their idea, not yours.

Okay, so we have done our research, prepared our questions and now have arrived at the clients parking lot. We have our generic marketing material prepared in a non-threatening leather portfolio with something to write with ( I apologize for some of the basics, but the devil is in the details).

The first few minutes in the meeting step is critical. The purpose here is to get people to lower their mental/emotional defenses, eliminate tension and establish trust. After this is accomplished we will move on to the next step of asking questions.

Too many of us rush this portion of the meeting and that’s a shame because it sets the tone for everything. Remember, firm handshake and look your client in one eye. This works better than having your eyes looking all across the client’s face.

One of the biggest challenges in this stage is that too many salespeople introduce themselves to their prospect and begin with some silly remark about the weather, their office décor or the hole-in-one plaque on the wall. Another principle to remember is that 80% of the people you meet with find unsolicited small talk to be a nuisance. Naturally, if your prospect asks you about the rain or snowstorm outside you should respond.

This early stage of our meeting is where you have the most sales tension. Sales tension is the inner feeling you and the prospect have that is saying this is an interruption from the important things the prospect can be doing. Also, that you are viewed as an intruding money grabber. At best, many polite prospects tend to see themselves as being nice to a fellow human or actually feel they’re doing you a favor. You must correct this and change the attitude and atmosphere with an initial bonding statement. Try this on your next appointment and watch the body language of your prospect change as if a large weight was removed from their back.

“I want to thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to meet with me. I understand there are many services competing for your time. My purpose here today is to just ask you a few questions to determine if my firm can add any value for your company. Is this okay?”

This statement will greatly reduce or even eliminate the tension. Before anything can begin, we must accomplish this. We want our prospects to feel we are trustworthy, that we have something important to say and their time invested in us is justified.

You can build on your initial bonding statement with this –

“After I have gathered all the information, I will make some recommendations on where my firm might be able to add value. If I cannot add value for you, I will use my years of experience in this area to recommend someone who might be better positioned to help you.

Trust me – this works in setting the stage for a productive first meeting. A prospect will be able to sense your confidence level so make sure you do not lose the inner game inside yourself.

Remember,

  • True key decision-makers should always be evaluating the best value for the Company.
  • Your purpose is to discover what they want most and how to get it.
  • Your goal is to be respected and trusted.
  • You are a value generator for your client.

We are now positioned to ask - well-researched thought provoking questions about how the contingency staffing affects our prospect’s business? We will cover the next step, which is probing, in our next article.