Good in a Room

The chapters in this section are devoted to the four most important mini-meeting situations: • Making requests • Keeping in touch • Following up • Saying no

Admitting that you don’t know something is perfectly reasonable. It isn’t a sign of weakness; it means you are a professional who will stick to the facts. The key is to emphasize that you will get back to the buyer. By making yourself

• Giving your own opinion of your work. If you say “I’ve got a

• “What would be an ideal outcome?” • “Who’s involved?” • “What are the main issues?” • “How would you like to proceed?” • “What’s your near-term strategy?” • “How do you envision this process working?”

solution is to be curious. In the above conversation about rock climbing, a question like “What about competing with the other climbers do you like?” might lead to an answer about

Two Days Before Research rapport-building topics Create specific information-gathering questions Prepare buyer portrait

One Day Before Confirm the meeting Gather materials, visual aids, presentation notes, technology Print out a map Update PDA with buyer’s contact information Charge PDA and cell phone

and see how you address those concerns. In general, the buyer doesn’t really trust that you’re the real deal until they’ve had a chance to put you to the test. That test is Q&A.

Principle 8: Summarize, Then Use a Closed Question to Confirm Closed questions begin with a verb, such as do, are, would, could, should, can, is, or will. These questions usually elicit a yes-or-no answer and are often used to confirm something important.