17th January 2012 / Posted in: Management, Operational management, Planning and preparation, Top tips
Most of us have so many meetings that it’s easy to slip into the habit of not preparing adequately in advance. As well as the common sense preparations about knowing where you are meeting, how to get there, arriving in plenty of time and taking all the relevant paperwork etc. Time with clients is precious so aim to get the most out of any meeting, and grow your credibility, by being well prepared.
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Set aside time in the diary well in advance of the meeting to think, read minutes or notes from last meeting, draft an agenda and research any new ideas you have suggested previously or want to mention at the meeting
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Send an agenda, agenda items and any papers for discussion in advance of the meeting allowing enough time for the client, and anyone else attending, to read and prepare for the meeting
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Have a ‘pre-mortem’before the meeting, that is imagine everything that might go wrong in terms of the client not liking what you’ve presented, the client not agreeing to things you’d assumed would go ahead, obections about price etc. If there are two or more of you attending the meeting each come up with your own list of the objections you may face, explain your rationale for identifying them. Agree what are valid objections then together work out how you would overcome them should they arise. It’s an excellent way of challenging your own thinking and identifying any potential weaknesses.
Pre-mortems are really useful when working on large projects, tenders or pitches. See Harvard Business Review for more information.
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