So you’ve got a meeting or call arranged with a potential client, but have you thought about how you are going to leave an everlasting impression and give yourself the edge over your competitors?
You see, what happens far too often is that businesses spend heaps of effort (and money) trying to get a quote request or a meeting in the diary. However, they forget that there’s a good chance they are still up against a couple of other options for the work, so they shouldn’t get complacent, just because they got the meeting. What more can you do? How can you stand out?
So how should you approach your meeting?
1) Firstly – do your research
You can’t be all things to all people.
If you’ve done your research, you’ll know if it’s the right fit or not! Don’t be a yes-man (or woman) to get the sale. Show your value, show why you’re right for the job and do it by putting the time in first to understand what they are looking for and how you can meet that criteria.
Ask the right questions, to get the right outcome!
2) Listen!
You have two ears and one mouth – use them in that capacity.
Every meeting/call/quote is different. When I first set up Flamingo Marketing Strategies, I had a set strategy call process (a series of questions) I aimed to follow every time, but it just didn’t work out like that. Ask the right questions, let your prospects talk and give them solutions by listening to them.
I’m really proud of my conversion rates – but I know it’s because I’m not trying to sell what they don’t need. I am not trying to be all things to all people. The right companies will see the value I can add and want to work with me because I’ve listened to what they need and I’m not overcomplicating and overselling my services. You’d be amazed how many salespeople I’ve come across who seem to have 15 mouths and half an ear! Don’t be that person.
3) Leave an everlasting impression
You can sell the same products or a similar service to somebody else but the defining factor that makes it truly different – is YOU.
Make it personal. What can you do to stand out? How can you be remembered? You know, one of the strongest forms of marketing is word of mouth. I know that my ‘nice touch’ lands well because I’ve seen the posts appear on Facebook! I’ve also received emails asking where I got my personalised chocolates made because they loved the idea…
I’ll tell you now, making chocolate flamingos at midnight is NOT my hobby of choice (when I just want to get into bed after a busy day) but because I am Flamingo Marketing Strategies and because I don’t JUST promote the importance of marketing (I promote the prospect to customer journey, client relationship building and everything in-between), it’s absolutely worth the effort to walk away from a meeting leaving a box of flamingos behind for the team to share.
So, with that in mind – what can you do differently when it comes to your sales process?
Clearly you can’t just start giving out chocolate flamingos to your clients now, but there will be something smart and truly unique you can do to leave that extra WOW behind as you say your goodbyes. If you’d like to send me any of your ideas that you have, I’ll happily send you my feedback – [email protected]
Extra Tip & Final Thoughts
I’m not just talking about your prospects – give your clients the WOW factor too.
This isn’t me saying take a load of sugary treats to every single meeting, but do nice things for the clients who make your worklife a dream – this is much easier when you work in professional services, but there are also ways to wow your customers in other industries too – I promise!
If you need any help with planning your customer journey or more particularly around customer service and keeping your customers happy – I have the perfect introduction to make – ask me about First Impression Training.
I’d love to hear what you do for your customers and prospects – reply with your stories and why they work so well because I’d love to share your ideas with others (not in the same industry, of course!)
Oh…and if I start receiving lots of requests for meetings within hours of this blog being published – I know you’re just after my chocolate flamingos!