Don't take it personally – but you've got to ask yourself that question.

I see so many people trying to figure out which marketing approach to use to get a meeting with a potential client: referrals, presentations, email, even cold calling.

But they fail to ask themselves the crucial question: why would potential clients want to meet with me (rather than one of my competitors)?

It's a bit like a value proposition for a meeting. I call it your Compelling Reason To Meet.

It could be you can share with them useful benchmarking information. Or new insights into their business. Or give them a guide to what to look for in their suppliers.

It could well be be different for different types of potential client. Some might just like to hear some industry gossip. People who know you well already might just enjoy a friendly chat every now and then.

For many, they need more tangible value from a meeting – especially given how overloaded their schedule is these days.

And that's the key to a Compelling Reason To Meet. What value will your potential client get from the meeting itself?

Too often we think just of ourselves. We want to meet them because we know from our experience that when we meet potential clients a good number of them are impressed enough to hire us.

But that's hardly a great reason to have a meeting from their perspective.

And being able to do a great job for them downstream isn't enough. Chances are they're not ready to buy right now and that prospect of future value is too far away. They need to be able to see that they'll get something useful from the meeting itself – not just potential value later.

And to be really compelling it has to be something useful they can't get from their existing suppliers and contacts or one of your competitors too. What unique insights or experiences do you have?

So before worrying too much about whether you should be putting your efforts into referrals or getting on the telephone or whatever method of getting a meeting: think first about why on earth a potential client would want to meet with you in the first place.

What's your Compelling Reason To Meet? Tweet this

 
Why not share your compelling reason to meet in the comments below? You never know – someone might feel compelled to met you! (Or you might get some decent feedback).