Want to ace your next coffee talk meeting? Think “Pie”: Part one of a two part series

Coffee talk meetings are a great way to meet potential prospects. There’s typically no obligation on anyone’s part and coffee most often happens in comfortable places. Done well, coffee talk meetings can pave the way to a fruitful relationship. Unfortunately too many business developers are not thinking “pie”.
 
I’m occaisionally guilty of saying “I’d really love to pick your brain” or “When we get together I want to hear about your most pressing challenges”.  I try not to make that the platform for all discussions but even the best slip up from time to time! Now we all know meetings like this can be really helpful – for us. What also tends to happen is the curse of “the two extremes”. 
 
Extreme #1 - The seller totally surrenders the meeting to the prospect and scurries at the end to make a pitch or suggest a next step. It typically lacks context and faint pledges to email each other while jumping into cars never materialize.
 
Extreme #2 - On the other side of the spectrum is total domination – either pitching or questioning with little prospect engagement. These meetings feel good, but lack bite when attempting meaningful follow-up.
 
                   The best coffee talk meetings achieve the number one goal of any first meeting
                                                             – agreement to a second meeting.
 
Pie Concept
So to have more productive meetings, think pie – you get half, and the prospect gets half. Also realize that your prospect wants to walk away with an asset for their time investment. This can be learning something new, a contact that can help their business, or an insight they would’ve never received without meeting you. Use this asset concept when setting the purpose and value of your next meeting.
 
Those of you who get caught in Extreme #1 should realize that this is your time too. Come prepared to engage the prospect in their issues or universal issues that you think they'd enjoy engaging in.  For you Extreme #2 folks, work more curiosity into your conversations – think a smaller number of questions and push for clarity and intent. 
 
What are your best coffee talk tips? Send me an email at bwalton@billwaltonsalestraining                or join/post your thoughts in the Client Acquisition Group on LinkedIn.