Are You Sabotaging Your Own Sales Meetings?

What would make a meeting with you truly worth their time?

Leaders today have no patience for surface-level pitches or insincere attempts at selling. I know how difficult it is just to get a foot in the door, especially in a landscape where time is as valuable as any currency. But once you’re in, you have an incredible opportunity to go beyond the transactional and create something meaningful.

Selling isn’t about manipulating or “sealing the deal.” It’s not about tricking someone into a sale they’ll regret the next day. We’re not here to sell snake oil and slip away before the dust settles. Sales today is about building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.

The old way of selling is dead, dead, dead.

PRIORITY

Are you focused on closing the sale, or on solving their problem?

If your priority is simply to get the order, you’re setting yourself up for resistance. People can tell when they’re being sold to rather than supported. When you’re driven by numbers or self-interest, they feel it—and they resist.

To truly make an impact, focus on helping your customer solve their problem and reach their goals. If you don’t know who your customer is or what they genuinely need, invest time in finding out before the meeting. And if you missed our “6 Mistakes That Could Ruin Your Meeting with a Corporate Leader,” check it out to avoid the common pitfalls that create unnecessary barriers.

FOCUS

Are you just looking for “low-hanging fruit,” eager to make any sale to show a growing pipeline? Are you out to convince someone that your product is “the best” without diving into their unique needs?

Shift your focus. Look deeper for problems or missed opportunities within the customer’s business that they haven’t identified or addressed. Find the issues others aren’t solving. When you do, you’ll lead the sale by making them see why your solution isn’t just another option—it’s the only answer. Demand generation today is about being proactive and transformative.

RESPONSIBILITY

Are you still in love with your brochures, samples, and PowerPoint decks? Your customer isn’t. They can find all that information online anytime.

Today, customers value interactions that challenge them to think differently. Bring fresh ideas, new insights, and actionable information. Every meeting should leave them with something they can’t find anywhere else. Question the status quo, disrupt their usual thinking, and become a trusted resource they want to meet with regularly.

DIFFERENTIATOR

Do you think your customer will make a decision based solely on product or service differentiators? The truth is, they rarely care about buying “just another tool.” Faced with new software or services, they see more work, more risk, and more obstacles—unless you show them how it directly improves their business.

A true differentiator isn’t the product itself but the impact it has on their operations. Show them what results they’ll achieve and how it solves a real business problem. Shift the focus to outcomes, and you’ll engage them on a whole new level.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

Curious about what really makes the difference? That’s coming in next week’s What's Next newsletter. Stay tuned for the insights that can set you apart.