You’re on the road. Your phone is dead and car navigation is out of range. Because you’re running late, you miss an important turn. The clock is ticking as you drive miles past your destination. Eventually you pull over, realize your mistake, backtrack and finally arrive (even later) at your destination.
Have you been there?
As a sales professional, you may be feeling “late” relative to any number of things. These could include: your sales quota, your peers, your competitors, an opportunity or client. During a sales meeting, those feelings can cause you to rush and overshoot important pivot points, like on a road trip. Those details and cues, and the adjustments you make in response, can be the difference between winning and losing the business.
So, how do you slow down when your gut is telling you to move faster, catch up? Try these five adjustments to pump the brakes for a more effective sales meeting:
LESS
Cramming in filler appointments
Time spent on rapport
Talking/tutoring
About you
Assumptions
MORE
Preparing better for meetings that matter
Time on agenda development
Listening/learning
About them
Checking for alignment
It’s counterintuitive to feather the brakes when your instincts are telling you to lean on the accelerator. Yet isn’t that exactly the adjustment you make when you are at your best, most dialed-in, selling self?
What are the ways you find your patience in effective sales meetings, enabling you to advance and close more business?