How to Master a 30-Minute Sales Meeting

You get a call from a new prospect who wants to meet with you and discuss your services. He gives you a 30-minute time slot four days from now. Unfortunately, you didn't take the time to ask this new prospect any questions during your brief telephone conversation, and now you're concerned because 30 minutes isn't much time to fully explore his situation and present your solution.

Here's how you can master that sales meeting.

First, your main objectives are to gain some understanding of his situation, position your company as the solution provider, and then gain a commitment for a secondary full-length meeting.

After you meet your prospect and exchange the usual pleasantries, say, "Let me tell you a little bit about us" and follow this with a short 20-second success story. Avoid telling them anything else, such as how long you've been in business, the clients you have, etc. Stick to a success, preferably one that your prospect can relate to. Use this same approach if the prospect says, "Tell me about you or your company."

Here's an example: "We specialize in helping businesses like yours improve their call centre performance. We recently worked with another company in the financial sector and were able to help them improve their specific metrics in less than six months without incurring additional costs."