Steak sauce is tasty example of informal meeting's value

"There's a present on your desk," said my colleague Lynn when I returned to my office recently.

I quickly opened the gift bag that had been placed in the middle of my desk and found two large bottles of HP Sauce. I was very excited; HP Sauce is the U.K.'s leading steak sauce and hard to buy in the U.S.

The gift was from friend and client Ken Mackenzie of Wickcraft.

Over a business breakfast one day I had shared my love of HP Sauce with Ken. I especially love it on poached eggs.

Ken's parents live in Canada where the sauce is more readily available than in the U.S. He asked them to purchase it and ship it to him, so he could say thank you in a personal way.

Shared connections

Meeting business associates in informal settings creates the opportunity to share more informal conversation, and often more personal information.

Our strongest connection can result from these more informal sessions. We can learn about shared connections, shared values, shared hobbies and shared interests.

All of this information affords us the chance to deliver our sales message in a context that has more meaning for the client or prospect.

Some examples include:

• When we provide references from shared connections, we gain the trust of prospects more quickly.
• When we demonstrate how our company supports similar values to those of our client, we strengthen our relationship.
• When we use analogies that relate to the client's hobbies and interests, they will more quickly process our message, as they speak that language.

By paying attention to the information gleaned in the informal meetings, we can show our clients and prospects that we have connections beyond simply providing our products or services to solve a specific business issue.

Listened and learned

We can prove that we listened, learned and understood what they told us over breakfast, coffee, lunch or supper.

Ken is a consummate sales professional. He listens thoroughly and uses what he learns to serve his clients in ways they want to be served.

He experiences lower resistance and indifference than average, and closes more sales more quickly because his clients and prospects feel heard and understood.

And he clearly knows how to say thank you to the people who support him in his endeavors.

I strongly suspect that none of Ken's other associates would respond with as much excitement as I did to a couple of bottles of steak sauce.

But then I strongly suspect that Ken knows enough about all of his other associates to reward them in other ways.

Jacqui Sakowski is president of Sakowski Consulting, a Middleton-based sales coaching, training and consulting company.