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Far too much time is wasted in coffee shop meetings. Sure, it feels great to meet someone over coffee to discuss potential business opportunities. But, when you get there, more often than not, the conversation falls off topic, interruptions cause distractions and, before you know it, the meeting is over and you’ve achieved nothing.
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3. 1. Plan your meetings
Research… whoever you're meeting with. Look them up, check them out on
LinkedIn, Facebook, or view their website. If possible, ask someone who
knows about them.
When you have a certain connection or affiliation in what they do and what
they're passionate about, it is easier to connect on a personal level. It also
shows you care.
4. Take action:
Do your research and take some time to look into the
person's LinkedIn, Facebook, website and other
social media to know their background, where
they've worked, their hobbies, and goals.
5. 2. Build rapport
Spend five minutes making small talk to break the ice. But no more than
that!
If you've done your research, it will be good to talk about topics related to
the things you've gathered from their profiles, including, as mentioned
above, their background, hobbies and goals.
6. Take action:
Use this time and phase of the meeting to get to
know the other person. But keep it short!
7. 3. Two big questions to give the conversation
focus
Always pose these two questions…
ESTABLISH GOALS: “In 6 to 12 months from now, how will you know that
it's time to celebrate?"
ESTABLISH OBSTACLES: “If those are your goals, what will stop you
achieving those goals? What obstacles are likely to slow you down?”
8. Take action:
Make sure you write down the questions you would
like to ask, before the meeting. This way, you don't
get caught off guard by your own inquiries. Keep it as
friendly and comfortable as possible. Framing it
positively is the key.
9. 4. End the meeting with a win-win scenario
Most people, when they get to the end of a meeting, they suddenly go into
"close the deal mode". Don’t do that. At the end of the meeting, it’s more
important to attempt to identify easy wins for each other.
It’s not your job to create a master and slave relationship (where you are
the slave). Instead, ask the question, "After what we've discovered today,
what might the wins be?"
10. Take action:
Make them understand that you are genuinely
seeking opportunities to help, but only if you see a
win-win scenario for both parties for what you offer.
Most importantly, mean it too.
11. 5. Follow up after the meeting
Finally, if you want to stand out from the crowd and make something
happen, make it a habit to follow up… within four hours. Add a note in your
diary and follow up!
It's different and very professional.
12. Take action:
Always go back to the details of your meeting to
review the key points so that when you make a
follow-up, you will know how to proceed.
