It's crazy how many salespeople want to show up to a meeting and share all the features and benefits of their products. We like to call that "show up and throw up." In reality, they should be making the conversation about the other person.
In fact, talking too much about yourself could end up costing you millions of dollars!
A while back, a client of mine who is a contractor got a meeting with an insurance agent. He actually got the meeting through cold calling, and the agent had set it for fifteen minutes. In the phone call when they scheduled the meeting, a couple key things happened.
First, my client had found out ahead of time that this real estate agent worked with a lot of contractors, but had just a handful he really liked to use.
Second, my client asked him, "When we meet, what should we talk about to ensure it's a good use of your time?"
So when they actually got together, my client said, "Okay, you said you had fifteen minutes, so I want to respect that."
They talked for a couple minutes, and then my client said, "You mentioned you had just two or three contractors you really liked to work with." He then leaned forward and asked, "What about them makes you want to continue to work with them and give them referrals?"
At that point, the agent started sharing for the next twenty minutes! At the fifteen minute mark, my client said, "Hey, you said you had fifteen minutes. Should we wrap this up?"
The agent responded, "Oh, I've probably got time for ten more minutes, if you're okay with that."
The whole meeting, my client barely said anything about himself! Before he left, the agent had introduced him to his whole staff, had shared a competitor's literature with him, and had told him to come back any time. He didn't even need to worry about calling ahead!
He was there for forty-five minutes or so by the time it was all said and done. What did he do that made that happen?
If my client was like most salespeople, he would have shown up, handed the agent his literature, then talked for fifteen minutes about how great their contracting company was. Instead, my client asked him questions that made it all about the agent.
One of the things my client uncovered during the meeting was that just a couple years prior, the agent had given contractors in my client's industry over three million dollars in referrals.
Three million dollars!
The next time you're meeting with a potential client or referral partner, ask yourself this question: Should I talk about myself this whole time, or do I want three million dollars?