Structuring a first meeting so it produces a decision or a date

4 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

The characteristic failure of a first meeting is that it goes well and produces nothing. Everybody is positive, the conversation is useful, and it ends with an intention to be in touch. Two weeks later nothing has happened, and the hour invested by both sides has produced goodwill rather than progress.

This is almost always structural rather than a failure of persuasion. Nobody decided in advance what the meeting was supposed to conclude with, so it concluded with whatever felt natural, which is agreement to continue at some point. Deciding the intended outcome beforehand, and saying it at the start, changes the result more than anything you could do during the conversation.

1. Structuring a first meeting so it produces a decision starts with naming the outcome

The preparation.

Decide before you go what a successful ending looks like: a quote requested, a survey booked, a proposal agreed, or a clear no. Anything vaguer produces a vague ending. A clear no counts as success, because it frees the time a drifting opportunity would have consumed.

2. Say the intended outcome at the start

The opening.

"What I would like to get to by the end is whether this is worth taking further." This is not pushy; it gives the meeting a shape and both parties something to work towards. Buyers generally appreciate knowing where a meeting is going.

3. Agree the time and keep to it

The framing.

Stating the length at the start, and ending on time, produces better meetings and is remembered. Overrunning is the fastest way to make somebody reluctant to meet again. It also forces you to cut the material that was not going to help.

4. Spend the first half listening

The proportion.

Understanding the situation before describing your response. A meeting where you present for forty minutes produces a polite conclusion and very little information. The second half is more persuasive for having been informed by the first.

5. Establish who decides and when

The qualifying content.

Who is involved, what the process is, when it would need to happen. Without this you cannot tell whether the meeting can produce a decision at all. Asked early, it also prevents you closing somebody who cannot agree.

6. Deal with the obstacle if there is one

The productive use of the time.

If something is blocking a decision, discussing it in the room is worth more than describing your service. Frequently it is resolvable and nobody had raised it.

7. Ask the closing question directly

The step most often skipped.

Whether they want to proceed, and if not, what would need to happen. This is a reasonable question at the end of a meeting about whether to proceed.

8. Leave with a date, not an intention

The minimum acceptable outcome.

If a decision is not possible, a specific date for the next step is. "We will be in touch" is what a meeting produces when nobody asked for anything better.

9. Confirm in writing the same day

The follow-through.

What was discussed, what was agreed, what happens next and when. This is also the document that goes to whoever was not in the room.

Be careful about pressing for a decision the buyer genuinely cannot make. Where an approval or another party is required, insisting on a conclusion damages the relationship, and a firm date is the correct outcome instead.

Conclusion

Decide what the meeting should conclude with, and say so at the start.

Name the intended outcome in the opening minutes, agree the length and end on time, spend the first half listening rather than presenting, establish who decides and by when, use the time to address whatever is blocking a decision, ask directly at the end whether they want to proceed, leave with a specific date if a decision is not possible, and confirm everything in writing the same day.