Be Brilliant! How to prepare for that effective first meeting

Jul 19, 2018 | Blog, Business Development, How we help clients grow, Insight

Initial meetings with potential clients or with new people at existing clients are critical opportunities. This applies to every industry whether it be engineering, law, property or commercial. A first meeting can be the difference between years of work and no work at all.

So how can you ensure your all-important meeting goes swimmingly (or some other kind of wow statement? How do you maximise the effectiveness you have when face to face with a client? Like many things it is 70% in the preparation and 30% in the execution/delivery on the day. Follow our proven steps to success, and you’ll find yourself having more impact when it comes to the crunch.

Get Our Free Business Development Meetings Training

Learn tried and tested strategies to help you excel at sales meetings tailored to the professional and engineering services sector

A free and unique sales training guide

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Knowledge is power, and never more so than when you’re walking into a room full of strangers. That means research is vital.

  • What do you know about the client organisation and the person or people you are going to meet? Do some background research using their website, LinkedIn, and search engines. What can you learn about the individuals you’re trying to connect with?
  • Ensure you are up to speed with news in their world. Find out what the hot topics and key issues are in their industry at the moment. This applies to all industries including engineering, law and all professional services. What are the lastest technological innovations in the engineering industries? Are you up to date on the latest legal developments? What’s current in the commercial property sector? Keeping your knowledge current will be key in portraying yourself as an industry expert they’ll want to do business with.

PREPARE A POSITIONING STATEMENT

It’s now time to plan a short and snappy positioning statement for your meeting . This should be an extended introduction to you and your organisation – not a ‘pitch’, but more to ensure the client really understands what your business does. Ensure your Positioning Statement has the 3 following elements:

An overview of your business – where you operate, numbers of people, industry sectors
Your Department – Specific details about your area of the business, for example, the types of clients and projects your department has worked on

Your Areas of Interest – what have YOU been involved in? How have YOU helped clients?

MAKE CONTACT PRE MEETING

It’s always a good idea to send a short note in advance of the meeting to cover off things like:

  • Where and when the meeting is taking place
  • Ask who will be there from their side ( ideally find out their job roles/remit and why) – this is useful to ensure you match up the attendees from your side..
  • Outline the areas for discussion
  • Ask them if there are any specific areas they would like to cover – and make sure you include those in your meeting plan
  • Send relevant content in advance (ie slide deck, research paper) and explain why you think it might be useful. This demonstrates to the client that you are tuned in to their business and the potential challenges they may be facing.

Think about attendees

It’s important to give some thought to who will be going to the meeting so you are prepared in how to engage with them and create that all important great first impression. Here are some tips:

  • Broadly match numbers. For example, if you are meeting two people, send two or three people, not five.
  • Meetings are much easier with a colleague. It is difficult to conduct a business development meeting on your own, given that you will need to ask questions, actively listen and also take notes.
  • Consider the type of people you are meeting, and try to reflect the dynamic when it comes to age, seniority and gender.
Questas – Business development training

Running effective meetings is just one strategy to help develop a business. Questas provide business development training for industries such as engineering, law and property to help professionals from a technical mindset create significant results and sales performance.

Read more about our business development training.

We are a business development consultancy which is passionate about helping our clients develop processes, skills and behaviours that will result in increased sales and improved margins.

Start our online cross selling course today

Cross Selling is a skill that, once mastered by engineering and professional services executives, can have a radical impact on business growth.

The interactive e-learning is designed to help you uncover new opportunities with existing clients.

Questas Cross Selling

 

Our Professional Services Cross Selling Training is online today, so now you can start honing your cross selling capabilities in just 30 minutes.

Start here

BD Training in Law Firms: Overcoming Barriers and Driving Effectiveness

In my two decades of training lawyers in the art of selling, I've witnessed both triumphs and pitfalls. Let’s dissect why traditional Business Development (BD) training often falls short and uncover what truly propels success in law firms. Barriers to Effective BD...

You win some, You lose some, You decide!

In the competitive world of law firm business development, the adage "you win some, you lose some" rings truer than ever. It's a landscape where victories and setbacks often go hand in hand. But what separates the successful firms from the rest? It's not just luck,...

Bridging the Gap: Legal Education vs Practical Business Development Skills

The legal profession is undergoing a transformative shift, and as law firms navigate the complexities of reduced client loyalty, greater pressure on fees and a fight for talent, the need to bridge the gap between traditional legal education and practical business...

Effective BD Meetings

In the competitive landscape of business development, your initial meetings with potential clients or new contacts at existing clients are pivotal moments. These interactions can either pave the way for years of collaboration or leave your firm with no work at all. At...

Tools for Difficult Client Conversations

SUMMARY This episode looks at the inevitability of difficult conversations happening with clients and how we manage them so as not to damage (and even improve) relationships. In this episode, Gary has an EASY chat with his Questas colleague Paul Brady about what to do...

The Importance of Well Trained Leaders

SUMMARY Business development and client relation management is part of a trinity with leadership and management. That’s the glue that holds organisations together that Gary will be discussing this week on Work Winning Ways. Find out why training in business...

The Right Way To Win And Maintain Clients with Frank Lippert

Summary On this episode Gary speaks to Frank Lippert - one half of the PSM (Professional Services Marketing) Podcast. Frank is based in Sacramento California and in this discussion they look at the differences in marketing and business development between the UK and...

Winning More Than Your Share Of The Pie

Summary On this episode Gary speaks to Mark Anders, who is an Operations and Framework Director at Mace. Mark tells a great story about how he came to be doing what he does today (you would never guess!). He shares his many years experience in managing Client...

An Interview with Gurminder Sagoo, Client Director WSP Middle East

Summary This is a fascinating interview with someone who has worked in the Middle East for more than 10 years. Gurminder shares some insights about winning work in the region as well as busting some myths about how the building industry works. If you work in the built...

Mastering The Client Experience

Summary How do we win the right kind of work from the right kinds of clients? This week on Work Winning Ways, Gary brings you an episode from a series of webinars about how you can master the client experience. Find out how you can win over clients, build and maintain...

Get in touch