I remember going to my first customer meeting as a business developer. It was terrifying. I didn’t know the prospect and the thought of meeting someone new and trying to develop a business relationship seemed an alien concept. But I reminded myself that they had agreed to meet because they were interested in the hydrogeology services that my company offered. I also had the mining experience that they desperately needed.
Once we’d sat down with a coffee I didn’t feel comfortable going on a rant about our services. I think perhaps my innate shyness got the better of me. I’m glad it did. Instead I asked about the customer about them. Their situation. Their problems. To my surprise they opened up. The conversation explored their needs and I could respond by explaining a deeper knowledge of the problem and how we could assist.
I left that meeting feeling like I had really added value. It felt great. From then on I kept adding more and more business development responsibility to my role.
Knowing how to behave and looking for ways to add value in you customer meetings and other interactions is a core part of being a business developer. In this post I’m going to describe a good and bad experience I’ve had before detailing three tips to add more value to your customer meetings.
A Bad Customer Meeting
Picture this—a business development manager from a large project tracking software company reached out to me via LinkedIn and asked to meet. The product he was selling would add benefit to the role I was in, so I was interested in learning more. He suggested meeting in a coffee shop near where I was working.
Firstly, he was ten minutes late, not a good start. Second, he didn’t offer to buy me a coffee; instead, he launched directly into his pitch. I had to stop him and go and buy my own coffee, politely offering to get him one also. I had to sit and be talked at for 20 minutes. To be honest, his product could have held the answers to all my project tracking needs, but I was no longer interested in listening to what he had to say. I drank my coffee as fast as I could before closing the meeting down.
A Good Customer Meeting
A better example was a business coach who I met through a board I was serving on. He was early. We grabbed a coffee, and he asked me about my leadership journey and any issues I was facing. After he learned about the problems I was tackling, he proceeded to explain how he could guide me through these challenges and what success might look like. I left the meeting feeling that I had learned something and, importantly, that I wanted to learn more. Needless to say, I became Greg’s customer for many years.
Tip 1: Listen Listen Listen
To get the most out of a customer meeting set yourself the goal of learning as much as possible about your customers situation. Stephen Covey’s Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood could not be more aligned to my message. Listen to your customer. Ask pertinent questions and understand the context around their issue. Only once you’ve understood them can you begin to start solving their problems.
Tip 2: Be the Guide, Not the Hero
In my bad example above I mention how I was talked at. The sales rep couldn’t wait to tell me about all the features and advantages of their software. They were the hero of their own story. Donald Millers’ Story Brand really encapsulates the idea that a company should act as a guide to their customers. Helping them to become the hero. By extension, the business developer should be the physical representation of that guide, leading the customer on the hero’s journey. Again, ask pertinent questions, listen, and advise. Don’t talk about yourself and how great your company is. Make the customer the centre of the conversation and react to that.
Once you understand their needs explain what their life will be like if they utilise your solution. Perhaps their productivity or their staff retention will improve. Whatever it is, don’t explain the process but describe how your customer will be the hero if they implement.
Tip 3: Follow Up
Updating the tactical action plan after each customer meeting is essential. Adding a brief one-line summary is enough. Update the date for the next meeting in line with your predetermined priority cadence or based on the needs of the opportunity. Any immediate actions should be moved on to your daily task list.
Be sure to follow up the customer with any actions from the meeting itself as soon as you can. This shows them that you value them, while also striking while the iron is hot.
Finally, any interesting information about the state of the market or customer direction should be noted and fed back to the wider team.
Customer Meeting Action
That wraps up the three tips to add value to your customer meetings. My challenge for you is to think about incorporating Listen, Hero, & Follow up in to your future meetings.
As normal I’m ken to hear your thoughts. Drop a comment below or reach out through the normal channels.
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