On a meeting table

It doesn't matter how much you know about your job.

I believe he knows a lot and is an expert.

I believe you know far more than most of your prospects, leads and customers.

In my case, I handle approximately 50-80 corporate fundraising projects at the same time with an almost monthly turnover.

I have been studying, teaching, investing and practising the subject for many years.

Surely I have more experience than most of my interlocutors, just as you know far more than yours in your field.

That said and pacified, let's deal with the meeting table and then we'll bring the two issues together.

Business happens around a meeting table. People sit and talk.

Much more than the words spoken, it is the unspoken ones, the body posture and especially the look that "speak" what is really significant for those who are with us.

And congruence is the biggest factor of credibility between people. Without congruence, there is no trust. Without trust, there is no business.

So the first law at the boardroom table is congruence, that is, it's how much confidence you pass on to others.

Let's get to what destroys your congruence:

1. To talk about and praise oneself. This is a huge sign of weakness and inconsistency. When you praise yourself and whitewash in a meeting how good you and your company are, the great clients you serve and how much better your proprietary solutions are than your competitors, you are reducing your image and almost annihilating your congruence as your exaggerations will be noticed.

2. Not letting the other person speak. If you do not allow the other to talk about himself, his problems, challenges and even to praise himself, you lose the chance to pass on congruence. When you listen with legitimate interest, it is an attitude of maximum delivery for the other person: your attention. Do not waste a single instant your chance to give your attention to your interlocutor.

3. Interrupt and counter-argue. This also destroys your congruence. More than attitude is form. You don't have to agree with everything, or be fake by nodding positively when you hear something you don't agree with, but never, under any circumstances, interrupt the other person's rationale to counter-argue. Stay cool, keep your attention focused and wait for the argument to finish. Then add alternatives to what you heard, without confronting. This is seniority.

Which will help you come out in one piece and with better chances in your business meetings:

  1. Ask pertinent questions, focused on your leads' challenges.
  2. Discuss the problem in full with attention to detail.
  3. Aggregate with ideas and solution alternatives, attributing yourself from your experience.
  4. Be objective and avoid prolixity at all costs.
  5. Look into the eyes and pay maximum attention to what is said (take some notes).

A business meeting has a single objective. To establish trust.

Now I'm going to put the two issues together and you might not like it.

But you know that I don't write to please you but to help you close more deals.

So here we go: Be an expert and establish trust at a boardroom table.

If you position yourself arrogantly (even slightly) or professorially and dictating standards (ascribing to your expertise) you will be setting up a scenario of subliminal criticism of your interlocutor.

He won't tell you this openly, but he will feel uncomfortable, go on the defensive and instead of him absorbing your congruence, he will want to speak what will be saved or at least safer from not receiving your reparative comments.

Being in a meeting, being in the position of a potential supplier (the one who will be paid for something) is the key moment for closing a deal.

And it's for professionals.

At a boardroom table if humility is not the boss of expertise, you will suffer as your ego will be leading your attitudes.

It is very easy to be arrogant, feed the ego and therefore be at its mercy because of the specialty we hold. The only problem with that (which is almost epidemic in business) is the huge waste of time spent at meeting tables without closure.

And his main offender is that his speciality is not commanded by his humility.

Stavros Frangoulidis
Stavros Frangoulidis
CEO of PaP Solutions ⚡ Let's connect on Linkedin too

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