Food for Fish: Getting Your Head Right
Congrats, if you are reading this article, it is because you booked your first “Big Fish” meeting. If you have not, I suggest you start with the article “Let’s go fishing with Dynamite” it will take you to the beginning of this series.
Now that you have your meeting scheduled, there are a few things you need to do and consider to prepare for your first face to face meeting:
- Preparation
- Write down one primary goal for your meeting.
- Make a list of potential concerns from the client and prepare solutions.
- Loop in support staff and bring in as needed with you.
- Use and respect the clients’ format.
- How is your solution the best solution to solve their problem?
- Find ways to boost your credibility.
- Build and nurture relationships.
- Mindset Preparation
- Listen more than you talk.
- Learn from “no.” Find out what didn’t work, so you know how to change it for the next time.
- Be a doctor, not a lawyer.
- Think small to achieve big.
- Bend don’t break.
These tips are all essential things to do both before and during your presentation. However, it always important that no plan survives contact with the enemy. Be prepared to adapt and trust that you are the best person to solve their problem. Maintaining confidence in your company and product/service, you will catch that big fish.
The next step of the process is negotiation. This can seem a little intimidating, but a few tips and tricks can become natural to you.
Here are some tips to help you negotiated successfully:
- Build a pricing strategy and stick with it.
- Prioritize what you plan to offer. This should include what matters to you and what you are willing to give in on.
- Don’t give in too quickly.
- We negotiated with a person, not a “company.” Don’t let their answer be that they would like to but can’t.
- Don’t sell yourself short.
- Mitigate your pricing. If you go too low, you won’t be able to raise it back up, and you need to make a profit.
- Don’t sacrifice quality for the deal.
- Your services should always count as costs.
- Boost margins with add-ons.
- Handle requests for proposals with the utmost care.
These are the ways you make sure that both parties are getting the best possible situation from the partnership. Once you start meeting or working together, it’s important to continue to build your relationship so that that representative becomes a big of an ally for you. They are more likely to vouch for you and build on the partnership you have with their company.
We like to call this person a champion. They are champions for your company and can bring a more robust, brighter future to your company. Here are the characteristics of a grand champion:
- They are respected by supervisors.
- They are socially networked.
- They think in the best interest of their company’s long run.
- They can quickly navigate through the company to get things done.
- They are willing to give credit to another person.
- They share the same business philosophy, values, and vision as you.
Now that you know how to negotiate for what is best for both parties and build on relationships, we’re going to talk about how to use your fish’ power to the best of your benefit.
If you need help with any negotiation or courting processes, I am always available to help.