By MAXfocus Guest Blog

Do you enjoy sales meetings with new customers, or does the thought fill you with dread?

“First impressions count” is a cliché for good reason. If you fail to develop the correct rapport with potential customers, you may lose the chance of ever providing them with your MSP services. Here are five tips to help you ensure you get the first meeting right.

Dress appropriately

Note here that we say “dress appropriately” and not “dress to impress.” Think about your potential customers and what they’re most likely looking for. While a law or accountancy firm may expect to see you suitably “suited and booted,” this may prove far too formal for a modern customer in the creative industry.

Prospective customers need to know that you’re going to fit in and that your company shares the same ethos—so be ready to adapt accordingly.

Listen

It is said that humans are given two ears and one mouth, and should use them in accordance with that ratio. Never has this been so relevant as when you’re trying to pitch services to a new customer.

Give your prospect time to speak, take a deep breath and think about your response. You’ll probably find plenty of opportunity to say what you want to say as part of your response. The most important thing is to show the customer that you are someone with the ability to listen and respond. appropriately.

Talk to everyone

It’s quite possible that your prospective customer will choose to have more than one person present at the meeting. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that one person is the decision-maker and direct all the discussion at him or her specifically. Even if there is only one decision-maker, he or she wouldn't have invited others to the meeting if their input wasn't valued.

Predict any questions or doubts

Have a good think about any doubts and objections that your prospect may raise during the meeting. For example, if your MSP business is small and has few staff, you may be asked how you plan to cope with an expanding workload or what you would do if multiple technical incidents kicked off at once. Make sure you have good answers ready—ideally with convincing real-world examples to support your case.

Judge how best to follow up

You will need to use your instincts to judge how to conclude each customer meeting. It’s unwise to have a set strategy for this; some customers will expect you to follow up with a formal proposal and take time to deliberate, while others will perhaps be ready to sign off on an initial agreement there and then (provided that you impress them adequately).

Use well-worded questions to ascertain what they want the next step to be, without applying undue pressure. It’s not unheard of for meetings to end with a handshake and the guarantee of business—but you should neither take this for granted nor force the issue.

Doing well at MSP customer meetings is something you will get better at as time goes on, but keeping to the five points laid out here will stand you in good stead, regardless of your current level of confidence.

Guest blogs such as this one are published monthly and are part of The VAR Guy's annual platinum sponsorship.