Opening the Meeting

OBJECTIVES

• Bring everyone into the present moment.
• Provide your client with a clear sense of what you will be covering and why.
• Disrupt their assumptions and make them see that this is all about THEM.
• Ensure that they are intrigued and want to know more.
• Gain agreement on what is most important to them.

CHALLENGES 

• There is the awkward moment when they come into the room, heads stuck in their phones, piles of paper on the table from the presentation before, eyes looking weary. No one’s brain is in this meeting.
• They have pre-conceived notions before you even start. Their inner voice says “I’ve seen this movie before. They are going to talk at me for the next 45 minutes without any understanding of what I need.”
• The first 10 minutes is when they will be deciding if what you have to say is worth their full attention.

TECHNIQUES

A. Warm up and confirm time

1. Engage in pleasantries and chit-chat while everyone gets seated - make it about THEM, show interest in them.

2. Thank them for their time, and confirm how much time you have so that you can adjust if needed: Example:

”I understand we have 90 minutes which will take us to 2:00, does that still work for you?”

This simple courtesy shows respect for the client and makes it about THEM. It also lets you and the team know right up front if they still have the time they said or they need to start thinking about adjustments they’ll need to make.

3. Make introductions.

You have two ways to go, both must be tight:

Option A Each team member introduces themselves.

The benefit of this approach is that the client gets a sense of your team, as people, from the outset. They hear a voice, see a face, and hear what this person will be adding to the conversation. The team becomes real.

TIP: Each person needs a slightly different way to introduce themselves so it does not come off as repetitive, robotic, or practiced. You want each team member to authentically shine through.

Option B The meeting facilitator does all of the introductions.

The benefit of this approach is that the facilitator is able to introduce colleagues with generosity and fondness, saying great things about the team members that they could not say themselves.

This builds up the team’s credibility and creates a strong first impression, one that shows respect for one another and a sense of company morale.

In either case, the introduction should include:

• Their area of expertise (not their title)
• The topic they will cover
• How the client will benefit from their presence

B. Share the flow of the meeting

Your goal is to get the client comfortable with what you've planned for today. Once they know where the meeting is going, they can relax and focus on you and your message

1. Share what you will be talking about today, in what order, and why they should care. Think beginning, middle, and end. “We’ll start with…then move to…, and finish up with…”

2. As you share the flow, give them a sense for how long each section will take and tell them you are leaving time for their questions and comments.

This is also an opportunity to embed your 3 key messages. You’ll elaborate on these during the presentation, but now is a good time to preview them. You will later reinforce them in the close.

Example:

“Based on what we learned from you last week, we thought we would cover four areas. We will spend the first 15 minutes discussing X and why we see that as so critical to your goals. Then we will move to a 15-minute overview of Y which you said was very important and is something we are very focused on. And because Z has been one of the top concerns we are hearing from clients, we want to take 10 minutes to talk about what we are seeing and how that potentially affects you. We’ll leave 5 minutes at the end for a quick overview of …… which we are starting to see some real traction on within the industry. That is 45 of our 60 minutes so we have time to get to your questions and thoughts.”

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3. Ask for feedback to see if they have other expectations. This way you will know whether to proceed or to modify. Any information they share now is gold because it will provide a view into what is important to them.

Examples:

“How does that sound to you and what else do you want to make sure you get out of this conversation?”
“How does that align with what you wanted to cover today?”
“What’s the single most important thing you want to cover today?”

4. When they tell you what is most important, use a follow-up question to get them to elaborate. In most cases how they elaborate will be better articulated because they had a minute to rethink it and gain clarity themselves. Keep it natural and conversational.

Examples:

“Can you tell me a little bit more about that?”
”Will you give me a little more context around that?”
“To make sure I understand, could you elaborate on what you mean by X?”

5. Paraphrase or restate what they said in the form of a challenge or opportunity they have.

“Thank you, that was very helpful. If I heard you correctly,… Do I have that right?”

6. You now have two choices, either address what is most important to them right then or hold off until later.

Option A Address what they say is most important.

This shows the client you are listening and that this meeting is all about them. It also clearly communicates to your team how they will need to adjust to this new flow.

Example:

“That is very helpful. Why don’t we just go there first? We can address that and then move to X, Y, and Z.”

Option B Hold off to later.

If you want to hold off, be sure the client does not feel insulted that you ignored their priority. Defer by first acknowledging the importance of their statement, hen ask if you can address it just a little later as part of the larger conversation and explain why.

Example:

“Thank you, we appreciate that C is important to you and we will certainly address it. It will be helpful if we can hold off a bit until after we cover A and B because that will provide important context for the discussion about C. How does that sound?””

Be sure to make a note as a reminder to cover the topic and when. Writing it down tells the client you heard them, and they will feel more confident that you will address it later.

C. Gain agreement on their challenge

Now is the time to engage them in a conversation around their challenge because they will only accept your solution if they have first bought into the challenge.

The reaction you want is, ‘’Holy cow, I’ve got to do something about this!” When they are thinking this, they are open to what you have to offer.

This early in the meeting, going for the big open-ended question, “Tell us about your challenges”, without any context, may cause them to become protective and withdraw. The client is still sizing you up and determining how much they trust you and how much information they are comfortable sharing.

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Instead, you want to soften the question by giving them something they can react to.

Example:

“Our clients are telling us that A and B are of real concern right now. What are you seeing as some of your biggest challenges today?”

This preamble makes it much easier and safer for them to engage because you are not forcing them to come up with something from a cold start. You have made the question manageable in scope and less threatening.

The preamble shows them that you are not just curious, but you are trying to understand them better so that you can help. Just be sure that the way you engage them here ties back to the solution you plan to talk about.

1. There are four ways to get the client to talk openly about their challenge. Choose one:

Option A Offer a bold, thought-provoking observation.

It can be something they didn’t realize before or that reinforces what they do know but really makes them think. This can be an eye-opening statistic or something about the current state of their market. Then get them to react.  

Example:

“[Insert observation]...What are your thoughts about this?”

Option B Summarize what you know about them and their situation and ask if you have it right.

Examples:

“From the research we have done in anticipation of today’s meeting, we learned… and …and …How does that fit with what you are experiencing?”

“I understand that…does that sound right? (wait for answer). Given all that, what do you see as the concerns and the opportunities over the next 12 months?”

Option C Share what other clients are experiencing.  

Example:

“One of the biggest challenges we hear from our clients is X. That is something we are very focused on. What are you seeing around this?”

Option D Fallback to a manageable open-ended question, but tell them how they will benefit from responding.

Example:

“Before I turn it over to Josh to get us started, it would be very helpful for us to hear a little bit more about X so he can be sure to focus his time on what will be most beneficial to you.”

2. Listen to their response. Clear your head of everything else. Do not rush them. Do not speak over them.

It does not matter if they challenge, agree, or have not ever even thought about what you just shared. These are all positive responses because it gets them talking, thinking, and engaged.

3. Restate what they said in a slightly different way and check in with them to see if you got it right. Or, better yet, rephrase what they said in the form of a challenge or opportunity they have and confirm with them that you heard right.

TIP: Early on in the presentation, you want to ask the client what they have heard or seen, not what they think. Asking them what they think too early puts them in the hot seat. It is better to save this for later in the presentation when you have connected emotionally and built a level of trust.

ADVANTAGES TO YOU

• Within 10 minutes you have an audience that wants to know more about how you are going to get them to a better place. This is a great launching pad for your team to now do their part.
• You know what is most important to them and can align your value throughout the rest of the meeting.
• You set the stage for continued dialogue.

ADVANTAGES TO THE CLIENT

• They are able to pay more attention because they know where the meeting is going.
• They know early on that you are interested in them and care about what is important to them.
• They have not seen this from any competitor and their interest is piqued. They are intrigued and will give you their time and attention.

EXERCISES

1. OPENING QUESTIONS

Come up with 5-6 open-ended questions that are targeted at getting the client thinking and talking about their business objectives and challenges. These should be generic enough to be used in most meetings. You will use 2-3 of these during a typical opening.

Keep them open-ended and use words that are natural for you to deliver.

2. WRITE YOUR OPENING STATEMENT

1. Determine the 3 key messages you want this client to take from the meeting.

2. Prepare your opening remarks including these critical components:

• Confirm the time by which the meeting should end
• Introduce your team
• Share the flow of the meeting and ask for feedback
• Tee up your 3 key messages (generally done as part of the flow of the meeting)
• Share something that will help you gain agreement from them on the challenge they are facing and invite them to comment
• Ask follow-up questions

3. Rehearse until it is natural and smooth, both what you plan to say and the questions you plan to ask.

RELATED LESSONS

Structuring a Sales Meeting

Facilitating the Meeting

Asking Questions

Listening and Responding

Presence

Communication Skills

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