Marketing: July 2006 Archives
To do that, you need to create enjoyable experiences when you meet prospects... I had a meeting today with a really great company yesterday. I enjoyed meeting them but I'm not too sure about whether they enjoyed meeting me. Maybe I'm a little insecure, but I feel a lot better when both I and the other party share a common passion and enjoy our conversation. I also feel that there's a better chance of making a sale when the other party likes you I created a top 10 format to make sure that you're liked:
- Know your stuff. There's nothing worse than walking into a prospect meeting and wasting the other person's time because you didn't prepare well enough. People like to know others who are experts on something
- Treat secretaries, gatekeepers, and other support staff with respect.
- Find out about the other party as a person and show that you and she have something in common - learnt a common language, similar educational background etc.
- Find out if she has any passions, and comment intelligently on them - this means that you need to know something about a lot of areas.
- Find out what her company has been up to in the news - compliment her on any recent successes and talk a bit about it.
- Have an idea of the strategy that her company or she personally could follow in the future. This means that you have to research their market position before you come in.
- Show that you love their product and intensely enjoy some aspects of it. Research the product
- Comment on how you'd like the product to evolve. People love to talk about their products, and dream all the time about how it can be improved
- Show that you're socially responsible. No one will dislike someone who they perceive as "having a good heart" - but don't overdo this
- Be inquisitive and authentic in a nice way - if you show interest, people will like that, but if you're nosy, people will not like it at all
