Three Things I Wish I’d Brought to that First Office Call

It was my first customer meeting in my new business development job.  I’d recently retired from the Air Force and now I was in the private sector in a new career.  There were plenty of times in my previous life where I’d hosted office calls with defense contractors, but now I was on the other side of the table in a thirty-minute meeting with a senior Defense Department official.  I had a new suit, a new business card and a new sense of purpose.  But those weren’t enough.  What I also needed were:

1. A Biography

Prior to the meeting I’d spent a lot of time on my talking points and PowerPoint presentation, but not enough time learning about the government official who’d be sitting across from me.  It was a rookie mistake.  That official was more than a block title on an organizational chart.  He was a human being who graciously gave me time out of his busy schedule in hope that he’d meet someone helpful and learn something useful.

I was always comfortable in conversations with new people so I began a little small talk.  At least I avoided another rookie mistake and didn’t launch into the program charts right away.  I wanted to make a personal connection with him, but there didn’t seem to be anything we shared and soon he asked what I had for him.  I gave my pitch and politely left on time, but I felt the meeting could have gone better.  I could have, for a few days later I saw his bio and realized we were at the Naval Postgraduate School at the same time.  His daughter and my son could have played together.  He and I eventually talked about it and that helped us develop a business relationship that benefited both our organizations.  But it should have started that first day.

2. Good Questions

Instead of going into my slides so quickly, I could have asked him some open-ended questions to help me understand what his primary operational needs were.  A good friend of mine, Arlene Johnson who heads the Sinequanon Group in Dallas, once told me that she advises all participants in her business courses to bring three open-ended questions to every client meeting to uncover information which could speed up the buying cycle.  I wish I’d known this for that first meeting.  Questions are powerful.  If you frame them up naturally and logically they can unlock the key to the sale.  If they’re artfully and pleasantly posed, they continue a pleasant conversation and help the buyer get to where they need to be and the place where you can help them.  All you have to do is think about what objectives you want to achieve for the meeting, what specific information is needed, and how a request for that information could be framed in a friendly question.

3. Pen and Paper

Back to that first meeting.  When the government official began to talk I wanted to write the information down.  But I hadn’t brought anything with me to do that.  It felt awkward to ask him for a piece of paper and something to write with, so I didn’t.  I just sat there distracted and missed a lot of key elements.  I tried to summarize back to him some of the data and that helped me remember bits and pieces later as I sat in my car, but it would have been far better for me to be able to ask him if it was okay to take notes and then write succinct bullet points.  That situation never happened again.  I’ve always carried a pen and notebook with me and even if I can’t find the notes later, the action of writing them down helps me remember.

So, do what I didn’t do.  Add biographical information, good questions, and pen and paper to your pre-meeting checklist and you’ll make every meeting moment count.