Two people for meetings?

For those of you who have experience in setting up those face-to-face appointments to seal the deal, what are your thoughts on bringing an assistant along or even for walk-in propositions (as in you go in there cold to pitch the client)? You would still do most of the selling but you'd have the assistant there just to reinforce what you said and assist with persuasion. Maybe explain a few things so you're not the only one talking and so on.

I haven't tried this yet but am considering on hiring someone to do this. I'm aware that it would also increase my costs as I'd be paying them to tag along, however I feel as it would make me seem more calm as I'd have someone backing me up (assuming they're competent of course) in my particular case as I'm not yet comfortable taking up the salesmen role 100%. This mainly would be for web design and related services. Lower-end pricing as well (to start off).

At the same time, I feel as though it may seem a bit out of the norm as generally this kind of thing is done with one person, i.e the assistant would go in there on my behalf or I would do it myself and they would be used just for clerical stuff like calling up the person to confirm our meeting or to follow-up rather than actually attending the meeting.

i cannot speak about IM related meetings...
...but in my day job it is common that people do not show up on their own - even if the second person doesn`t really involve themselves in making a deal or bring in value to the meeting.

as long as your back-up knows what he is talking about, you both know how you want to act there it isn`t really a probelm i`d say.
we often have representatives that bring an expert in a certain field we are interested in.
mostly you negotiate with the representative but they bring someone that can jump in if it gets specific on something.

depends on how you present it to the potential customer.
and there is no rule that you have to come to a meeting on your own only. as well it isn`t said that the one you meet will be there on his own.
guess you shouldn`t worry too much - but be prepared if you do so.

lets see what more expirienced people say...

I would recommend using an assistant but he or she must be well trained and groomed to complement your presence and does not look like a useless tag who is good for nothing.

I've used the assistant ruse on many time.
I would normally ask permission if the client wasn't expecting two.
But it can be used as a very clever tactic.
One tactic to use is that they are a college changing department and you are showing them the ropes.
As you are presenting your client explain things to your assistant that is industry specific but engaging
enough to get your clients to ask questions your assistant then has a eureka moment about how good this
really is, the client will be agreeing with them 99.9% of the time
Don't overdo this but once you have it off it's a great act.

Another method to use is to introduce your assistant as a trainee that you are bringing in as you have so much business on now
you need to spend more time on the clients side.
Have your assistant conduct the presentation but when you have specific points you want to put across your
assistant makes a deliberate pre planned mistake where you come in by saying "That's not quite true" and hit the client with some
nice profitable for him facts followed by features followed by benefits.
This really drives it home he's getting the information from the boss who knows his business.
Plan your sales process, deliver it and close them down without them even realising.
Follow up with giving an outstanding service and they will thank you for it and you will never be
short of clients.

gritts said:

For those of you who have experience in setting up those face-to-face appointments to seal the deal, what are your thoughts on bringing an assistant along or even for walk-in propositions (as in you go in there cold to pitch the client)? You would still do most of the selling but you'd have the assistant there just to reinforce what you said and assist with persuasion. Maybe explain a few things so you're not the only one talking and so on.

I haven't tried this yet but am considering on hiring someone to do this. I'm aware that it would also increase my costs as I'd be paying them to tag along, however I feel as it would make me seem more calm as I'd have someone backing me up (assuming they're competent of course) in my particular case as I'm not yet comfortable taking up the salesmen role 100%. This mainly would be for web design and related services. Lower-end pricing as well (to start off).

At the same time, I feel as though it may seem a bit out of the norm as generally this kind of thing is done with one person, i.e the assistant would go in there on my behalf or I would do it myself and they would be used just for clerical stuff like calling up the person to confirm our meeting or to follow-up rather than actually attending the meeting.

Click to expand...

Hmm, depends on what kind of client it is, if you are meeting with some large firm or company, then yes, having an assistant would be beneficial. But in most situations, you are dealing with small business owners or firms/companies, it's best you meet them by yourself, and create that one on one connection. The potential client also wants to get to know you and get a feel of who you are and what you are like, not just this formal meeting as if it's a board meeting, lol.

I have a business partner so we both always go, but I've never hired an assistant to do this. I feel things are more comfortable with both of us. We also feed off each other so it's easier to sell with both of us there.

I would suggest going over your sales process well with this person. Once you get a couple meetings under your belt it will probably play off to your advantage.

How we play it off is she does most of the presentation and I observe how the client is reacting to our sells process. We have signals we use to let each other know when it's time to close the client.

You can tell a lot from how a client reacts to the things you say. Sometimes my partner will try to close the client to early and she will look at me for the go signal.

If the client bucks, she will than say well sir we normally don't do this, but if you would be wiling to refer us to people who ask about your website we could cut you a deal because we would like your business.

She will ask me how much we could do the website for and I will offer a discount. This makes the client feel like he's getting the better bargain.

You will need to come up with some process with your assistant so you don't end up being a fish out of water in the meeting.

Hope this helps

gritts said:

I feel as it would make me seem more calm as I'd have someone backing me up (assuming they're competent of course) in my particular case as I'm not yet comfortable taking up the salesmen role 100%.

Click to expand...

This explains your challenge. If you cannot do a presentation in a room of 20 people by yourself it doesn't matter if you bring your team of 20 or not, if you are supposed to be doing the sales presentation, you still won't be able to do it.

Some people are not cut out for sales. That's why I love SEO. I come from a sales background & most of the competition I've come across falls into the category you currently reside. Some tech guy who knows this stuff, but lacks the confidence enough to look a business owner in the eyes & say [INSERT YOUR VALUE STATEMENT].

So, if you are looking for long term growth, my recommendation is to work on your self confidence. This is rooted in self-esteem (i.e. your self talk, beliefs, repetitive thoughts). This can help you in all area's of life. With your business, with women, etc.

However, if you are looking for short term growth, then hire a sales guy & don't do meetings. Business owners are like dogs. They sense weakness & you are easy to dominate with a growl, bark, eye's locked. Why is a sales guy a short term solution. Unless you are a sales guy, you will never know how to motivate, compensate, and delegate to a sales guy that earns you business. So, in essence, you will forever hire sales people who know squat doo doo, or you will hire a rockstar that you can't handle.

Hope this helps & good luck my friend.

Some great advice, thanks to all who have commented.

And to address qu4rk in particular, I agree with you on that. I will definitely have to step up my game but I was thinking that this would be kind of like using training wheels in the sense that after a few meetings I'd be more familiar with what kind of objections/reactions I'd receive and eventually just go at it solo or use it for strategic purposes as oxon and 88 mentioned rather than for getting comfortable. As right now, I have mainly worked with people who have been referrals or business owners that I know rather than legitimate cold leads which is what I'm going to start going after to expand.

gritts said:

Some great advice, thanks to all who have commented.

And to address qu4rk in particular, I agree with you on that. I will definitely have to step up my game but I was thinking that this would be kind of like using training wheels in the sense that after a few meetings I'd be more familiar with what kind of objections/reactions I'd receive and eventually just go at it solo or use it for strategic purposes as oxon and 88 mentioned rather than for getting comfortable. As right now, I have mainly worked with people who have been referrals or business owners that I know rather than legitimate cold leads which is what I'm going to start going after to expand.

Click to expand...

It absolutely will work for training wheels. You will gain that confidence by having more meetings. However, I'd say on top of doing that, get to the point of where you are comfortable speaking in front of people, because you will always have the nerves to deal with if you don't handle it.

Having a confidence issue is nothing out of the norm at all. Every person has some area of life they lack confidence in. Bill Gates, Kobe Bryant, the President of the US. So don't beat yourself up about it. As a matter of fact, beating ourselves up is the exact reason we all lack confidence.

If you'd like the quickest fix for your confidence issues try this. Join a public speaking group. Toastmasters is a good one. It will clear up any speaking confidence issues you have. You just look them up & can go to your 1st meeting free. But it will give you the boost you need to open your mouth to strangers without the loss of confidence and everyone at Toastmasters is very kind & gentle about it all.

Good Luck Bro & keep us posted on your progress.