Win more business by ending every selling meeting with agreed next actions

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Don’t you just hate it when a really good sales opportunity stalls?

Your initial meeting went so well. They asked so many great questions. You came out of the meeting excited and looking forward to winning their business!

But now, all the initial enthusiasm has evaporated, and they won’t even return your calls. 🙁

This week, we’re exploring how to maintain momentum in every selling opportunity. You’ll learn how to agree on the next actions during every customer meeting.

A key recommendation you’ll hear frequently in these newsletters is to follow up every selling meeting with a written confirmation of what was discussed. Typically, this confirmation will be an email, and often, you’ll write a proposal.

One of the most important things to include in these emails and proposals is a summary of who has agreed to do what and by when.

There are lots of reasons why this is harder than it first appears!

This week, we recommend various ways to help you get to the end of every selling conversation with great clarity about what happens next. Let’s get into it!

How you'll improve sales results this week

• Why end every meeting with agreed next actions?

• How to agree on next actions

• Potential Challenges

• How to practice agreed next actions this week

• End of Week - Reflective Practice

Why end every meeting with agreed next actions?

Your customers are busy people. They have lots of other priorities apart from their discussions with you.

When you finish meeting with them, they’ll return to their tasks or be pulled into another meeting.

If you want to maintain momentum in your sales opportunity, you must take the initiative and agree on the next steps. Your goal is to get their next actions for your opportunity onto their to-do lists!

Discussing these next actions with customers is a great time to practice your coaching skills. Help your customer to think through the implications of everything you’ve discussed. Coach them to clarify conclusions and required next actions.

How to agree on next actions

1. Remember “Next Actions”: Throughout the meeting, keep in mind your need to confirm the next actions in writing after the meeting.

2. Courage: Have the courage to assertively propose everybody’s next actions. It’s entirely appropriate for you to be proactive as you help your customer understand the implications of a potential investment.

3. Ask questions: Ask your customer a range of open questions to clarify what next actions might be required to make progress.

4. Agenda: It’s always good to clarify the agenda of the meeting at the start so that everybody knows what to expect. It will be easier to agree on the next actions if everybody knows from the start that this is what’s expected.

5. Stakeholders: Many selling situations involve stakeholders who may not be in the current meeting or conversation. It’s important to identify:

   1. Who are these additional stakeholders?

   2. What will they need to do?

   3. How will they find out what’s required of them?

6. Time: It’s so easy to lose track of time in a customer meeting, especially when it’s going well! Leave yourself enough time to clarify and agree on the next steps.

7. Don't wait until the end of the meeting: Throughout your meeting, take the opportunity to clarify the next actions on each key topic. Make notes of these agreements to summarise what has already been agreed upon at the end of the meeting.

8. Written confirmation: Always, always, always follow up each meeting in writing and include confirmation of who agreed to do what and by when.

Potential Challenges

• Reluctance to commit: Your customers might be reluctant to commit themselves or their colleagues to any next actions. For each aspect of potential reluctance, you must consider “what’s in it for them.”

• Lack of awareness: Your customer might not know what’s involved in some aspects of the decision process in their organisation.

• Complexity: Bigger sales opportunities might have many moving parts. In these more challenging situations, agreeing on the next actions is even more important. Remember, you only need to clarify the NEXT actions, not necessarily everything that will need to come later.

How to practice agreed next actions this week

• Preparation before your meetings: Before every meeting with your customers this week, think about the likely next actions that will ideally be agreed upon. Start every meeting by outlining an agenda that includes your expectation of agreeing on the next actions by the end of the meeting.

• During meetings: Always remember the need for the next actions. Highlight these agreed-upon next actions in the meeting notes you’re taking.

• End of meetings: Agree on next actions! Who will do what, and by when?

• After every meeting: Confirm in writing what’s been agreed.

End of Week - Reflective Practice

At the end of this week, ask yourself these key questions:

We hope you’ve found this Weekly Sales Reset valuable.

Have a great week!

The Sales Reset Team

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