These are interesting times for sales and relationship management professionals. With a pandemic hangover still lingering and the increasing presence of procurement and AI, face-to-face time with customers is at an all-time low for many. When you add in internal responsibilities – team meetings and calls, solution and proposal development, updating CRM, etc. – we have so little time left to do the things that we enjoy most of all – meeting with customers, identifying opportunities, and building relationships.

Now, more than ever, it is crucial that we continue to connect with customers and prospects. After all, that’s where our real value lies. 

What’s the easiest way to connect with customers and prospects? Scheduling and conducting research meetings. Research meetings underlie all the key elements of the IMPAX NxtGen™ Sales Process. These meetings give us valuable insight, help us develop coach relationships, enable us to uncover solution/business fits, and empower us to identify and gain access to real decision makers.

Let’s not make this more difficult than it needs to be:

Reach out to a coach or contact and ask for some time to confirm and build on your knowledge. 

• "Hey Joe, do you have a few minutes next week to meet? I want to make sure my knowledge of your business is current.

Ask someone in your network to make an introduction to someone you don’t know and leverage that connection to schedule a research meeting. 

• "Hello Julie, I was with Matt Smith last week, and he suggested that I reach out to you to better understand your team’s IT priorities”.

Find other commonalities such as common job/school experiences, hobbies and avocations, and professional roles. 

• “Hello, John. Thanks for commenting on my post about AI. I noticed that we will both be at the AI conference in two weeks, and I would love to connect for a few minutes and better understand your current situation.”

To improve your odds of success in scheduling these meetings, be sure to emphasize that this is a research meeting (not a sales call) and close on a specific time to connect.