Leadership Development Tip: Take Control with a Smile
Clients often ask me how to establish control of a client meeting to preempt the meeting from turning into Meet The Press or the Spanish Inquisition. I say take a breath, smile and then try this.
At the start of the meeting, after one piece of small talk, present the three to four points to your agenda for the meeting. Then articulate the two to three benefits of the meeting from this agenda that your client will realize. Close the conversation by stating what time it is now and when you’ll finish up.
It might sound like this:
“I was thinking about our time together today from our last meeting and realized there were three points for us to discuss today:
1. Your marketing structure
2. The marketing strategies consistent with this structure
3. And, our idea on how to drive sales for your business
The value of our discussion is that you’ll see how we can lower your cost of credit and drive incremental sales for the business. It’s now 10:00am and I thought we’d finish up at around 11:00am, is that okay with you?”
Try it and let me know if you see any difference from your last client interaction. Leave a comment below.
