Once your prospect agrees to invite you to his place of work the real work begins. At that point you say to the prospect,
In the interest of time and to make sure we cover the key points would you mind if we set a quick agenda for our time together?"
At that point the prospect will say something elegant such as, "Ahhh, well, yeah. Ok."
You immediately set the tone by replying with Step 1 of The Agenda, which goes something like this:
Mr. Prospect, the main objective for us getting together is not to discuss speeds and feeds and specs and details of my widget but to see if there is a fit between our two companies to work together."
Far too often, especially in technical sales, sales people let the prospect take control of the meeting and turn it into a one-way free education for the prospect consisting solely of the sales person explaining every feature and function, every bell and whistle, every option and add-on only to be told
Thank you very much. You've been very helpful. We'll take your information and give it serious consideration. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. NEXT!"
We'll cover how to prevent that from happening in more detail with the next several posts but the following steps all depend on your setting the tone by setting the agenda.
This little nugget and more are covered in great detail in the Make Every Sale Program.
