capzulmi

Do you ever have to meet clients or colleagues in crowded areas to have a meeting, for coaching and 1 to 1 training?  Starbucks, busy hotel lobbies, reception areas, service stations.  Unfortunately, it’s the sign of the times and we don’t always have the privacy of a room. Read on and I’ll share some ideas on how you can get the best out of these meetings.

I could just see the Prudential logo on her notepad so I guessed she was a financial adviser meeting with a prospective client in a hotel reception in deepest darkest Suffolk.

Quite normal you might say but little did she know that I was about to start a multi room conference at the same hotel with about 60 delegates milling between half a dozen rooms on two floors with break outs planned very 15 minutes.  The reception area was going to become a bit like Piccadilly Circus on steroids.

I did feel sorry for her…and her client…and I was tempted to pop over and give her some tips to handle the situation she found herself in.

“My life revolves around my girls” is a mantra I adhere to. Each morning I wake up happy that I have another chance to enrich their lives while praying not to screw up like I did yesterday. I have to explain repeatedly why the golden arches are not a place where we go often, even if it is cheap and those fries are delicious. I also try to stop them from watching too much TV because my parents drilled into my head that it would rot the brain. Each day I worry about what they may see, experience, and, most importantly, remember. I see on a daily basis the impact of persuasive marketing on them, from the animated characters that present themselves on cereal boxes at our breakfast table to the likenesses of TV personalities on clothes and books. My kids are absorbing hundreds of messages daily.

Oddly, through the princesses and tween singing sensations I see multiple basic, but true and positive business lessons that my girls are learning that can also apply to proposals. Here are a few:

It costs 6 times more to find a new customer than to retain an existing account. Look after all your accounts as happy customers and they will stay with you. Also they will tell others what a great supplier you are, leading to an easy increase in sales.

Always under promise and over deliver. There is nothing worse than promising something that doesn’t happen. Your credibility as a reliable supplier is lost instantly. Never lie, although sometimes you need to be economical with the truth and only give your customer part of the story.

Speedily resolve any complaints. Often I have turned a serious complaint into a great selling opportunity just by listening with a sympathetic ear, immediately resolving the problem and ringing the customer back with a solution. Then adding a little extra for the inconvenience we caused them.

At every meeting agree on actions, complete them to the agreed dates and make a date for the next meeting, agreeing on objectives to be achieved at the next meeting. This ensures you are seen to be caring about that account and also that you maintain an ongoing dialogue.