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The Art of Getting a Meeting

Happy Sunday Everyone:

I truly hope everyone is enjoying their weekends.

Struggling with how to say this week’s Sunday Thoughts…One of those times where I know what’s in my head but can’t quite get it into words….deleted 3 times now just going to type and send after this one.

We need to understand the relationships we have, for better and for worse. Although you could make the argument this is for sales, it’s really about life. I have multiple coaching students talking to me about conversations they’ve had, and emails that they’ve sent with business partners, wanting more from the relationship than their getting. We have to be acutely aware of what we have and what we don’t have in our relationships. Many of us either act or think we’re in relationships with people that we’re not in, and then we get hurt, upset, or frustrated when we don’t get the response we want….then react by not getting the response we want and shutting that relationship down forever because we’ve now crossed the line of annoyance and smothering. Not every one of my business partners wants to be my best friend, that’s okay. Not every initial meeting with a potential business partner is going to turn into a new opportunity, that’s okay. Not every person I work with, or want to work with, is going to respond to an email or a phone call, and that’s okay. For me personally, I will always be proactive, I will always continue to try to establish new relationships, but I’m also always respectful if someone doesn’t want to meet w/ me….I’ll have the opportunity to prove myself in the future but I never want someone to see my call come through and be thinking “OH NO”. I want my potential and existing business partners to at least enjoy speaking with me.

Just a few points below:

· describing your value will never take place on email alone. Don’t send emails, but if you still choose to, use bullets.

· Don’t ask people for help when you don’t have the right to ask for it. i.e. “can you help me understand why we don’t work together”?

· if someone finds you annoying, or suggests you’re calling too much, back off, it’s not like you calling is going to push them toward you.

· don’t give false compliments, don’t act like you care more than you do. Best said, we always need to be AUTHENTIC. People can smell BS a mile away.

· if the ship has sailed on a previous relationship, find a new one vs. mending the old one, unless you can do so without creeping the person out.

· People do business with people they like, first, they stay with you because of continued operational excellence.

· You will never successfully force your way into a relationship, the moment it feels forced, stop it.

· Be emotionally intelligent in all the relationships you have.

Hope this makes sense.

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