How Impressive Are You On A First Date?

Ever been on a first date and the other person relentlessly spoke about themselves and seemed to take very little interest in learning about you? Terrible, right?!?

According to almost every dating site on the web, the best way to make a great first impression is to show a genuine interest in your date.

Remember you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

So why do so many sales people spend so much time talking about their products and services in a first meeting with a prospect?

Even if we think the prospect has some interest in our products and services, make an impression by showing genuine interest in their business and their needs.

To improve your chances of a “second date” with a prospect do NOT consider the first meeting as a time for selling, pitching or proposals. 

So what should you be trying to achieve in your first sales meeting with a prospect?

At SalesITV – one of the leading sales training companies in Australia – they suggest you consider striving for these 6 outcomes at your first meeting with a prospect:

1. Context – confirm your credible reason for meeting as the prospect most likely has forgotten

2. Comfort – build good rapport for ease of discussion and doing business with you

3. Credibility – deliberately develop trust by acting like a peer and demonstrating that you’re an authority on topics that matter to your prospect

4. Concern – highlight issues and personalize them

5. Clarity – build an understanding of the problems you solve

6. Commitment – agree on actionable next steps and keep the sales process moving forward

Have a clear outcome focus for your first meeting that revolves around a genuine curiosity to learn more about your prospect, and you will find that you may end up on more second, third, fourth ….. dates.

Heck … you may even get “married”.