How to Not Get Surprised in Final Sales Meetings
After a successful sales discovery process with a buyer, it is common to have a final sales meeting to present your agreed upon solution to a buying committee. The final sales meeting typically occurs at the end of the sales cycle. We know from solution selling training participants that the goal of the meeting is to close the deal.
The Biggest Mistake to Make in a Final Sales Meeting
Even though you may have the green light from your contact that this meeting is a perfunctory final step, do not let your guard down. Rarely is a final sales meeting, especially one with high stakes or that involves complex solutions, just about “dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.” You need to do the same level of pre-call sales planning and ensure that you and the team have the right mindset for a value-added sales call.
The biggest mistake is to take the sale for granted and think that you are in the sales negotiation phase when you are still in the discovery and prove value phase. We know from sales leadership simulation assessment data that buyers want sellers to take a client-centric approach to help them to:
- Get the information they need to make a good purchasing decision.
- Understand whether you can help them in a way that makes sense to their unique circumstances.
- Feel confident that your offering is uniquely better than the available alternatives.
We also know that the customer buying cycle isn’t always predictable; buyers can go forward or backward. Changes in the business can rapidly trigger changes in the buying cycle, and new stakeholders often enter the decision making process toward the end of large deals.
3 Steps to Not Get Surprised in Final Sales Meetings
To set you and your sales team up for success follow these three tips from our sales microlearning experts:
- As Soon as the Meeting is Set: Know Who’s Who
Before finalizing your presentation, make sure you know exactly who will be in the room, what they want, why they want it, and how they fit into the decision making process. Ideally you would be able to meet with each person to understand their role and what matters most to them before your sales presentation. - A Day or Two Before the Meeting: Check for Shifts
Before the meeting, ask your client if anything has changed. If yes, amend the agenda and revise the presentation accordingly. - When You Kick Off Your Presentation
On the day of the presentation, begin by saying, “Before I dive into the specifics, let me recap up what we have learned from you and share the assumptions we have made to ensure that we are all still on the same page. If there’s anything we’ve missing, please let us know.”
The Bottom Line
We know from business sales training that buyers and the buying process do not always follow a predictable pattern. Things typically change. Top solution sellers constantly do what it takes to ensure that their proposed solution is aligned with the needs of all key stakeholders. Always be ready to conduct additional sales discovery to ensure that your client is set up to succeed.
To learn more about how to not get surprised in final sales meetings, download 4 Key Elements to a Successful Team Sales Presentation