It is reported by experts in these matters that dogs can get a glimpse of the future by sniffing the air with their heads out the car window. The aromas ahead waft toward them in the breeze and they know what's coming. They know the road ahead.

Which is just one of myriad reasons that I want to come back as a dog.

Which way are you looking?

What is the route you're seeking to follow in a business meeting? Are you trying to find the decisions maker, or seeking information on likely projects, or attempting to gain conceptual agreement on an approach, or investigating possible obstacles, or pursuing the budget limitations?

Or are you meandering around the room like a school of fish, unpredictably and abruptly changing direction every 20 seconds? Or are you racing into one blind alley after another, like a tourist in some British lord's maze erected to try to keep up income and appearances after a long-lost hereditary fortune?

Entering into aimless conversations is useless. Thinking that you have rapport simply because the other person is waxing eloquent is delusional. And intricately describing your methodology to anyone who will listen ought to be a criminal offense.

You should pursue conversations with prospects with a game plan something like this:

1. Position yourself as a credible expert quickly.
2. Determine who the economic buyer is for your value.
3. If it is not this person, then find a way to be introduced.
4. If it is, then establish a peer level, trusting relationship.
5. Ask, listen, and learn about professional and personal priorities that lend themselves to your expertise and value.
6. Gain agreement on the objectives, metrics of progress, and value (impact of meeting the objectives), which I call "conceptual agreement."
7. Offer to create a proposal with options for the buyer.
8. Create a date and time certain for follow up.

Now your meeting is over.

Of course, this sequence might require several meetings, or could require only 30 minutes (both have happened frequently to me). The key is to always know the next step, the next "yes," the next segue.

Sniff the air

As you interact with prospective buyers, develop the ability to judge how fast or slow you should go. A great many people will tell you that this is where personality types are important (the über-driver, NTYJP, hyper-I, mod-4, Type C, intransigent, I believe is one such label from the tests). However, it's largely about the particular circumstances, your flexibility and ability to relate, your credentials and/or brand before you enter the room, your directing the conversation, and so on.

I've seen sales and marketing professionals take copious notes at prospect meetings. The problem is that 90 percent of them are irrelevant and innocuous. (It's like recording an entire day's workshop. Is that really helpful? You can't make notes about the high points and hot buttons?) You should be noting what will drive the meeting forward to points 7 and 8 above, and not preparing to write a history of the company or a biography of the buyer.

"Sniff the air." In other words, figure out if the buyer has heard of you, and to what degree; has used consultant before; has very high priority professional/personal needs; feels a sense of urgency; is talking to others and/or considering dealing with the issues internally. What does it look like down the road?

The more you stay on a narrow track, and a straightaway, the faster your progress will be. Take notes about things that move the conversation in your preferred direction. Ask questions about issues that will make your help more valuable. Paraphrase and summarize those issues which will have profound and rapid impact.

Summary

The sales and acquisition process is very often too expensive and too labor intensive. That's mostly our fault, because we often think we're at a social event trying to make small talk over drinks! I'm not looking for a friend, I'm looking for a client. I'm not seeking love, I'm seeking work. It's not about validation, it's about providing value.

It's one thing when a prospect dithers and you want to scream, "Get to the point!!" But it's another when you gab, gobble, and gibber all around someone's office.

Good chess players (and golfers) make moves that are in consideration of what lies ahead. They're "sniffing the wind." They are not content to move a couple of pawns of just hang around the first green. The idea is to checkmate or break par.

Our calling is to improve the client's condition by providing our value in return for equitable compensation. You may not want to drive with your head out the window, but you should have some idea of what road you're taking and where it leads.

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.

Alan Weiss, PhD has one of the strongest independent consulting brands in the world. He was recently named a Fellow in the Institute of Management Consultants, one of only two people in history earning that designation and also inducted in the National Speakers Associations Hall of Fame®. His newest book is Thrive! Stop Wishing Your Life Away, due out in December, 2009. Reach him at http://www.contrarianconsulting.com or http://www.summitconsulting.com.