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Question #9 in the would you or would you not series is…
You’re in a meeting with a new potential client and they mention a need they have that one of your products can solve. Do you wait for them to pause and then tell them about your product?
This is a perfect situation. They have a problem and your product can solve it. Of course you want to communicate that information, and if you don’t it’s a pretty big mistake. Naturally, you want to do it right now, and most of us would. But a good sales meeting is not a natural conversation. It is a conversation orchestrated by you, the salesperson. If you’re a good orchestrator, it will feel like a natural conversation to the other party. But it isn’t. It’s a process, skillfully and professionally managed by you. This might sound disingenuous. And it could be if your intentions are disingenuous, like the furnace repairman who insisted we needed to replace our furnace for $2000. (We demurred, and the second repairman fixed the furnace with one turn of a screw.) If your intention is to be useful, and be someone that they would like to know, (repairman #1 failed on both counts) then waiting to explain how you can solve their problem isn’t disingenuous, it’s professional.
Rather than jump in and explain how your product can help, explore the need further. Needs are problems and problems relate to other problems. By exploring you’ll make sure you understand the problem the same way they do and you may uncover other challenges the client is facing. Even if you can’t solve those, you better understand their situation. And it’s best to suggest solutions from a place of harmony.
Before you offer your product solution, seek to understand. (Neil Rackham calls this asking implication questions.)
Once you understand the problem or need, move on with the meeting. If you can, wait until the end of the meeting to explain how your product can help. The end of the meeting is when you download all the connections and ideas you have. A further explanation of this is outlined in a previous post.
