199: Virtual Selling: How To Prepare For Online Meetings

<p>Online meetings with existing clients are a breeze.  The connection is there, the history, the trust has been built and the rapport building was done a long time ago. Basically this is a walk in the park.  Now the brand new client is a different matter.  You have never met, let alone even seen each other before and now you meet online for the first time.  This can be a daunting prospect.</p> <p>There is going to be a heightened sense of stress for this first meeting.  “Will I be able to build trust online?”, “Can I establish some rapport, when we are separated physically and I am only seeing them on this little screen?”, “Will I be able to hear them clearly, given how poorly the audio performs in these online meetings?”.  If we prepare well, we can reduce some of these anxieties.</p> <p>Review your industry knowledge.  What is their situation today given Covid-19 is disrupting so many sectors of industry?  Is the market declining, rising, how fast, at what volume?  What do I know about their company.  How is their current revenue situation?  What is the situation with their rivals – what would be some common issues they would be facing too?  What about this individual I am meeting?  What is their title, what information about them can I pick up through a Google search, looking at Linkedin, Facebook, my own contacts, their vendors, my colleagues, etc.</p> <p>Before we speak with them, we have to review the value we bring to our clients.  We are not focused on the spec details of the product, but on the benefits we deliver.  If they decide to adopt us as a supplier, then how have other clients applied the benefits of our value inside their own companies.  This could be a very useful insight to introduce when talking to this new customer. </p> <p>What is likely to be their perspective?  Buyers are generally interested in where they can place your solution in the triangle of tension, between time, quality and cost.  Are we talking to the CEO, who will have a strategic viewpoint on where the company needs to go?  I