A great way to transition from preliminary pleasantries into a business conversation is using an Agenda Statement. This 45-second piece of magic lets your prospect know the purpose of the meeting, what you’re going to cover, and how they’ll benefit from your time together. This creates focus and sets the meeting up for a positive outcome. Most importantly, it removes one of the biggest fears people have… the fear of the unknown.
The four steps of the Agenda Statement are:
- Purpose
- Outline
- Input
- Transition
Think of “POINT” to remember the steps.
Purpose
State the purpose of the meeting in one sentence. Make sure your purpose statement stays very high level and does not go into the actual agenda items that will be discussed during the meeting (a very common mistake). You want your purpose to be short and crisp, so that your buyers’ ears perk up.
Outline
The outline quickly identifies the topics to be covered. Make sure the outline is not too detailed, and do not start discussing the topics until you have covered the entire outline (another very common mistake). Otherwise you’ll detract from the momentum you are building.
During a first meeting with a buyer, there are six key topics to discuss:
- Overview of my company and myself
- Buyer’s current situation
- Buyer’s desired situation
- Buyer’s expectations of a product or company like mine
- See if there is a good fit between my product/service and my buyer’s needs
- Possible next steps
Input
Input gives the buyer the opportunity to tell you if there is “anything else” he wants to cover. If the buyer gives an additional agenda item we assure him we’ll cover it and then ask again if there is anything else he wants to cover. We repeat this until the buyer says no.
Transition
During the transition, you simply ask for permission to proceed to agenda item #1.
Begin Every Sales Call with an Agenda Statement
You’ll be amazed how much of an impact this simple technique will have on your sales appointments. In fact, this is the way you should start virtually every business meeting you have. What’s amazing is that very few sales professionals do. And that’s great for you. By using the Agenda Statement up front, you will clearly differentiate yourself from your competition and set yourself up for success.
To see examples of Agenda Statements (and hear audio examples too!) or to learn more about the 6 steps of the Silver Bullet Sales process, log onto our website at www.silverbulletselling.com. Or better yet, buy the Amazon.com bestseller Silver Bullet Selling!
