CONNECTING WITH THE SALES MEETING CURVEBALL

 

A Valid Business Reason (VBR) is a clear statement of why a customer would find it valuable to spend time meeting with you. As effective as this tool is for securing a meeting, it is an equally powerful way to begin a meeting because this reason can change between the setting of an appointment and the actual meeting, particularly if the appointment was set well in advance.
So it makes good sense to state your VBR again at the start of the meeting. Ask a Confirmation Question to validate the meeting’s purpose. This assures you that you’re starting the meeting on the same page.
When (and this is more common than you think) you get an unexpected “no” when verifying the meeting’s focus, you can either:

• Give the attendees their time back and reset the meeting when expectations are more in sync.
  Or,
• Stay in the meeting to uncover what has changed and what their new Concept is – what they’re trying to accomplish, fix or avoid.

The first option demonstrates that you’re respectful of their time and that you wish to put more thought into their current position. But who knows when or if you can get an appointment again?
Why not make use of the time already given to you? Do the “leg work” while you have your contacts in the room and ask questions that will give you a better handle on their situation. This will give you insights on whether your company can provide a solution to their problem. Ask specific questions that will resolve any unknowns, such as:

• What brought the shift in the project’s direction?
• Would you describe for me how you envision this problem being resolved?
• Who will oversee this new project?

The reason that brought you into the meeting may have changed, and that may throw you off momentarily. By asking good questions that spur open dialogues and uncover new information you can hit this curveball out of the park.