The Secret To Successful Business Meetings
At the beginning of my Internet Marketing career
, I was afraid to ask people to work with me. The phenomena is known as "Fear of Cold Calling" and is based on the theory that all people are afraid, at the least a little, of strangers, and of rejection. For people who are new to an activity, dealing with unknowns, such fears are understandable.
I understood the issue and believed that it did not apply to me as I genuinely like meeting people and am usually unfazed by talking with them. My issue was fear of rejection - rejection of a my business proposals in which I had much emotional energy tied up. When I realized what my problem was I was able to apply solutions.
One of my mentors teaches strategies for business. Al says that any business or personal situation can be examined and the various outcomes calculated and assessed. From that point strategies can be devised which can optimise the outcomes. Al believes that the optimum outcome should be a win-win situation for all parties. If you follow that belief to a logical conclusion, strategies should incorporate the other parties wants and needs where they can be deduced, or guessed.
If you think about that objectively, you are forced to focus on the gestalt, rather than your desired outcome. This is empowering in that the other party will quickly realize that you are not pressuring them, or looking for the quick sale. Their interactions will be more open, relaxed and ready for any required negotiation.
There are techniques that can be used to simplify this facilitation. I personally use a chart which is similar to the Ben Franklin that many are familiar with
My first step is to identify what I want to achieve from the meeting/call or conversation. I do that by identifying my goals, the emotions I expect to experience, and the expectations I have. This takes practice and some thought, as while goals and expectations are concrete, emotions are tricky little suckers. They affect everything we do, at work, at home, with family, friends - and with our prospects and customers.
More difficult is to work on what the other parties expect, what their goals may. Their emotions should be considered in the context of the possible outcomes.
Imagine this: I am to call a prospect, to see if he will be making an application to join my primary business.
My objective is to have my lead submit an application to join the business. If they decide against that, the goal is to retain them as subscribers to my email newsletters.
My emotions would be excitement/fear that they will not want to complete an application, pleasure/excitement if they decide they will, and disappointment if they decide they are not interested.
My positive expectation is that my lead will complete the application, the negative that they are not interested at all, and should they not be ready to submit the application, I would expect that they would stay on the list. I expect they will avoid money decisions, will be suspicious and could even be hostile and rude.
The other parties goals may be to find out what I am selling, and to NOT spend money. They will fear that I will persuade them to buy something they don't want or need, to rip them off or disadvantage them. There could be an element of excitement about the opportunity. They expect me to be "pushy" and sell themon my business. they are expecting to say No!
By anticipating these factors, I am in the drivers seat and can plan for each and every contingency. I can work out how to make the interaction positive for them, and help us both reach mutual understanding and respect. We have a much better chance of reaching a negotiated and mutually acceptable outcome.
by: Don Paul Fuller
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