In the lift on Friday morning, I heard two business people discussing how they travel. One was saying that he was about to do a trip to Asia but he never plans a thing. In fact, it isn't until he's on the plane that he starts to have a think about where he wants to go and what he wants to see, and what he wants to do. I smile to myself as that is so to me. Some people love planning their trips right down to the transfers and the restaurants. I however discover as I go that this works, when I'm traveling at least. I've had the most interesting, random, and exciting trips as a result. Anyway, when traveling, this is absolutely fine. It's a personal choice. Either Works, planning or not planning. However, in meetings, I give you no choice. If you don't plan, you will never be going on a holiday again. That's right. You'll still be stuck in meetings trying to work out what the hell's going on. So I'm going to explain the simplest way to clarify what you want. Ask yourself, "What would I like them to think, feel, and do by the end of the meeting?" That's it. It sounds incredibly simple and it is. By doing just this, you'll change your meetings from 30 percent effective to at least 70 percent. To make sure you get this right, I'll take you through each one. When you articulate what you want them to think, be concise. Make your language as strong and as convincing as possible. The person with the most belief always wins. For example, you may want to sell them a marketing campaign. You may want them to think that it's a great campaign. Even better however, is to want them to think that it's crucial that they adopt this marketing campaign in order for their company to survive. Sounds dramatic. It doesn't matter. It's for your reference only. I wouldn't necessarily say that directly to them. But it's almost like a pep talk for yourself. If you're fully convinced of the benefit of what you're offering, then you want to choose a think which is highly highly compelling. Feel. We said earlier that on the whole people make emotional decisions backed by logic. That makes the feel very important. You can choose words such as, I want them to feel inspired or motivated or reassured. You may want them to feel reassured that your team understands their needs better than anyone else or inspired that you are the only expert who can deliver what they need or motivated to adopt your plan to get the result straightaway. Use clear compelling language. The field then becomes your intention and colors your body language and your vocal time. When my intention is to inspire, my whole energy changes. If it's to reassure, it changes again in a different way. It's best to choose just one intention. If the meeting goes off track, then you can easily return to your goal to reassure, to motivate or to inspire. And to Do. What you want them to do by the end of that pitch presentation or conversation? You may want them to like the campaign and to want to go ahead. But what exactly does that look like? Will they organize another meeting to sign the proposal? Will they agree on a launch date? Will they make a deposit? What specifically will they do at the end of that conversation that will make it so clear that it's going ahead? Where possible, get this in writing, have a document there for them to sign. Some meetings, no one leaves before they initially document promising what they will do. At the very least, follow up the meeting with an email outlining what was agreed upon and ask for a receipt of email. You've heard of Jordan Belfort, haven't you? The Wolf of Wall Street. He went to prison then came out and put together his sales program called, straight-line persuasion. He says that when you engage your client, your job is to move them from where they are to where you want them to be. An ideal client. In order to get them to that ideal destination, there are lots of conversations that need to happen. For each of those conversations, your goal needs to be extremely clear. What do you want them to think, feel, do, in this conversation? What do you want them to think, feel, do, in this conversation? And this conversation and this conversation. It is all about being incredibly specific. You may have a general idea of what you'd like to have happen but only when you are specific about what that looks like, are you really prepared? When you don't know exactly what you want, it's at best a waste of time. In most cases, it drags out the process and costs companies hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars as they have meeting after meeting after meeting, catching up on the last meeting when nothing was executed. Now, let's look at the think, feel, do, altogether. Say you work for a non-for-profit. Your goal may be to find companies to partner with you to increase the awareness of your non-for-profit, to support you financially and fund your marketing. You know that in order for them to become a partner, they'll need at least around 5-7 conversations, a proposal, a presentation, and a timeline on how the marketing is going to happen amongst other things. In the first conversation, you may want them to think that you're a non-for-profit is transparent, will give the employees a sense of purpose, and attract new clients. You may want them to feel that your non-for-profit will be the best cultural fit for them and you may want them to do organize a presentation for the senior leadership team. There are many options. Whatever you do, make it simple, compelling, and use strong language you feel connected to. So get specific for success. If you save time in your meetings by getting specific, you'll have more time for planning your holidays.
