7 Ways to Win a Client Before the First Meeting

You have been referred by a friend for a plum assignment, but you know that two or three other professional service providers are also talking to the prospective client. How do you ace your competitors and secure the work? Follow these seven steps to win over the prospect before your first meeting:

1. Respond swiftly. Send an email and follow up with a phone call to request a meeting. Some people prefer to respond by email or by phone--the double-tagging makes it easy. If you are lucky enough to connect live with the prospect, listen carefully to that person's story, situation and needs--take notes. Prospects tell me, from time to time, that a service provider is unclear about the basic facts of an assignment at the first meeting.
   
2. Secure an in-person meeting. You would be surprised by the number of service providers who are too lazy to meet personally with prospects! Make every effort to meet personally with a potential client--this is your best opportunity to establish rapport and secure an advantage over competitors who have scheduled a phone interview. Select your location carefully to ensure you will have the prospect's complete attention in a relaxed environment.


3. Promote a strong brand. What's the first thing the prospect will do when a friend refers you? That's right--the prospect will look at your firm's website. As a service provider, you have few opportunities to differentiate yourself--your service promise is invisible--prospects can't look under the hood. Instill confidence and share your firm's culture, technical acumen and personal style with an effective brand. If the prospect is given the names of three service providers but makes time to meet with only one or two, your website can give you a place at the table or all the time you want at the golf course.


4. Look for relationships in common. Discover, by asking or with research, as much as you can about the prospect's relationships with service providers, business leaders, and others in the community. Ask those you know in common to reach out to the prospect to recommend you or to provide you with advice and information that will help you demonstrate value.


5. Understand the problem from the prospect's point of view. As a service provider, you may have ideas about what the prospect needs to solve his/her problems. However, you will win or lose the job based on the prospect's perceptions and emotional needs. Ask the prospect, What are your goals, both for this assignment and for your business as a whole? How do you feel about this situation? What will make this entire process/project easier for you? Provide information prior to the meeting to establish your credibility and to generously share knowledge. I often hear the real reason why one service provider is selected over another, and the reason is often emotional or based on perception rather than cold hard facts.


6. Brainstorm on new ideas and strategic alliances. Invest creative time in developing new ways to provide more value than the prospect is expecting. Does this mean showing up with ideas that capture the imagination of the prospect? Can you offer scenarios with solutions that reach far beyond the assignment at hand? Can you include additional professional service firms or other organizations--strategic alliances--to take the solution to a higher level?


7. Check in to confirm the meeting. This is no time for slip ups or misunderstandings. Confirm the meeting date, time and location one week prior and the day prior. Providing leadership on the date, time, participants and location of the meeting, when appropriate, makes the experience of working with you easy.

While these steps appear to be common sense, you would be surprised by the number of service providers who fail to follow through on one or all seven tips. Top service providers follow best practices in every aspect of business, from financial matters to securing new clients. Add these seven tips to your prospecting approach to ace your competitors and win clients--before they get the pleasure of meeting you personally.