August 21, 2024
Butterfly Repellent
Do you ever get butterflies in your stomach before a big sales meeting?
You know, the kind of meeting that could result in a breakthrough sale for your business?
Like, somehow you got a meeting with a decision maker at your dream client and you start to feel the pangs of impostor syndrome?
You should be panicking, right?
Wrong!
The reality is that you shouldn’t even have butterflies before a meeting like this.
Why not?
Because you don’t have to say much of anything.
Your main job is to ask questions and get answers.
You need to find out:
- Why they want to do this project.
- Why they want to do it right now.
- Why they are considering hiring someone expensive like you.
- What their desired outcome is.
- How they will measure the success of the project.
- What it will mean for the organization if the project is a huge success.
(Note the glaring lack of questions about features or scope)
Naturally, they might have some questions for you.
Here are some of the most likely, with my suggested answers:
- If they ask you what your hourly rate is, say you don’t have one.
- If they ask you how you price my work, say you give fixed prices for projects so they’ll know the required investment before making a purchase decision.
- If they ask you what you plan to do, say you don’t know yet but will have a proposal to them with a range of options next week.
- If they ask you how much it’ll cost, say you don’t know yet but will include prices in the proposal (and ask, “Is there a range you need me to stay within?”)
- If they ask you how long it’ll take, say you don’t know yet but will include estimates of minimum durations with each option in the proposal.
- If they ask you if you have experience in their industry, say, “No, which is exactly why you need me.”
The bottom line is that you’re NOT going there to sell yourself to them.
You’re going there to find out if you’re a good fit.
If you are, then great!
If not, then no amount of fast talking would result in a mutually beneficial relationship.
Hence, no butterflies.
Yours,
—J
P.S. Are you frustrated by low engagement on LinkedIn?
Next week, I’m presenting a live half-day workshop via Zoom, where I’ll spill the beans about how I 100x’d my LinkedIn numbers in just a couple of months.
Unfortunately, I have to limit attendance to 20 people to guarantee personalized attention and allow for a lot of Q&A.
So if you’d like to be notified when the application process opens, please click the following link to join the 238 people who have already expressed interest:
Click here to be notified when applications open »
FYI - I’m planning to send out the application form later today (i.e., August 22), and the workshop will be next Thursday, August 29.