Episode 125, Impact your sales and revenue by Seeing The People!

Simplify Your Sales and Business meetings. Lisa Thal is an Author, Speaker, and Business Coach. She has over 34 years of marketing, sales, and leadership experience. She wrote the book "Three Word Meetings."  Lisa coaches leaders on simplifying sales and business meetings with fun and interesting 3-word  topics to get your sales team motivated and inspired.

 

Episode 125, The fastest way to grow your revenue is solving your client's problems. You start with seeing your clients!

 

I wanted to share the impact of seeing a client face to face. I had lunch with one of my account executives and several clients. They call that client-Facing! Yeah, not the old Zoom or Teams calls. I was sitting across from our clients and discussing them personally and their business. You have a tremendous opportunity to solidify your next year if you prioritize this over the next 30 days! 

 

See, many of our clients are working remotely or in some form of Hybrid role and working from home. But we all crave some human connection. Not to mention it may be more fun to get out of the house and have lunch with another human being versus eating at your kitchen counter or your desk! 

 

So let me ask you a question? How many face-to-face calls did you have last week? Last month with current or new clients? It is important to know that number, and I would like you not to count Zoom or Teams calls unless they were out of the market.

 

A new study by global staffing firm Robert Half shows video calls may be wearing on workers. More than (76%) of professionals surveyed say they participate in virtual meetings. Those respondents report spending nearly one-third of their workday (30%) on camera with business contacts or colleagues. Meanwhile, 38% say they've experienced video call fatigue since the start of the pandemic; 26% note that the practicality and novelty of videoconferencing have worn off over the past eight months; and 24% confirm they find virtual meetings inefficient and exhausting and prefer to communicate via other channels, like email or phone. Or in person!

 

Click below to see the entire report:

https://hrexecutive.com/hres-number-of-the-day-video-meeting-fatigue/

 

One of the most valuable ways you and your sales team can spend their time is in front of your clients. Nothing helps you build strong relationships and ensure customer success and renewals like face time. I have found you gain more information when meeting in person, whether for coffee, lunch, or happy hour. A more meaningful conversation happens versus video calls or emails. 

 

Every meeting has a purpose!

Now, you may schedule most customer meetings for a specific purpose, such as product training, discussing services, or a quarterly or year-end business review. But, each session is also an opportunity to build trust, deepen your relationship and identify ways to grow your customer base.

 

We want to be the person they call when they are facing challenges. We want to be the problem-solver!

 

How do you figure out customers' problems?

Many times, you know what they are. One advantage is finding out the problems your client is experiencing way before they experience it. How do you do it? You use AI and keyword research to help guide you. Those of us in Marketing do this every day. You have to understand the buyers' intent to provide a road map to reach those consumers. 

 

Use online research and tools.

I want to share a tool called http://Answer the Public. 

 

AnswerThePublic listens to autocomplete data from search engines like Google, then quickly produces useful phrases and questions people ask around your keyword. The categories consist of the 5 W's, 'how', 'can', 'are', 'which' and 'will'. 

It's a goldmine of consumer insight you can use to create a more meaningful conversation and connect your product and service to your customer.

 

For example, I put in Marketing, and I Clicked on Why is Marketing important?

 

Five reasons why marketing is so important

• Marketing informs. A wAy at attracting consumers in a crowded marketplace, your target audience needs to know why they should choose your business over someone else's.
• Marketing engages. 
• Marketing builds reputations.
• Marketing sells. 
• Marketing grows businesses.

 

You and your sales team can create so many ideas to help you discover so many reasons why clients should meet with you! Find a way to start the conversation, make the competition irrelevant, and provide solutions to your client's challenges.

 

Interview your customers

Getting on the phone and interviewing your clients is invaluable. What a great way to encourage them to help them tell you not only what their challenges are but, more importantly, what problem you are solving for them. You want to ask them, "What good service looks like to them, or tell me a story about a time when we provided good service." That's when you'll start hearing things like, "You are a great listener and provide solutions to my business challenges." 

 

Be a Problem Solver.

Today and every day is an excellent time of year to meet with your current clients and ask when looking at next month, three months, or next year have things changed? You want to ensure you are aware of any issues or challenges they may be experiencing. Like they have a new product launch, they hired a new analytic CEO who needs to see the data on what we are currently doing. The benefit of being a problem-solver is that every innovation creates another opportunity to solve another problem every time a problem gets solved. 

 

So how do we start to See The People? One person at a time. I am asking you to join me on the 30 for 30 challenge. Schedule 30 in-person meetings over the thirty days. Discussions with your key accounts and face-to-face meetings with new accounts. You have the tools you need to earn that conversation. The approach will be refreshing to your customers. And I will leave you with these three words: See The People!

 

If you think someone could benefit from the See The People episode, share it, rate it, or subscribe for Free at Itunes or Spotify, so you don't miss out on the next three-word podcast.

 

Learn more about how to Simply Your sales meetings using 3-word topics at http://www.threewordmeetings.com .