The next three months of October, November and December are the optimal time of the year to conduct Business Review Meetings with your current clients – especially your top clients, or a client that you feel is a little rocky.
A business review meeting is valuable for you and your clients, too!
In my years of sales, I found this to be a game-changer that moves relationships from vendor to a more trusting partnership. This is also a great opportunity for you to invite other decision makers and influencers to this meeting such as other divisions or department heads, their boss, other key employees, buyers and stakeholders.
Here are seven ways a business review meeting can improve your sales results:
- It’s a great opportunity to have a purposeful sales conversation with your valuable clients and find out what is working, what is not working and for you to give recommendations to strengthen the relationship.
- It helps position you as a valuable resource to review the year and begin planning for the entire next year, rather than project by project or visit by visit.
- You can better understand their goals and initiatives. This is very important – when they start talking about their future initiatives listen for opportunities on how you can help them.
- Many companies are in planning and budgeting mode right now, which makes it an ideal time to secure your services for next year.
- Your clients are challenged as to what they are going to do better or differently next year. A business review meeting is a great opportunity to brainstorm with them and provide recommendations. This positions you as a business resource, not just as someone who sells a product or service.
- Your competitors are not doing it! This is an incredibly effective way to keep your competitors from getting in the door with your top clients.
- Your client relationship might be a bit rocky. That means a pro-active approach on your part to discuss the current issues and how you can resolve them will position you more favorably.
Here’s how you position the conversation to secure this business review meeting:
“We value your business. We have been working with you during the past xxx years, we would like to schedule a Business Review Meeting in the next few weeks with you to review the past year and your plans for next year. This meeting agenda can include what is working, what could be improved upon, better understanding of your future goals and initiatives, any challenges you are facing and recommendations from both us on how we can provide more value to strengthen your business. We would like to include xxx in this meeting. You’re welcome to extend this invitation to …(great opportunity to suggest including their boss or other decision makers, buyers, stakeholders in the meeting.)
You can personally call them and/or send them an email with at least two to three date options and times.
Now, create a list of your top three to ten clients, pick up the phone, or send out the email and schedule this Business Review Meeting.
You’ll be amazed at how well this meeting is received and how you’ll secure a stronger partnership (and revenue) for 2019 and beyond or fix a rocky client situation.
Let me know how your Business Meetings go with your client. Email me at lisa@teneoresults.com
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.