When meeting with a prospect face-to-face, it is especially important to make a good impression since they can see your appearance and body language.  You also need to be well-prepared with the right questions and a good presentation.  Here are some tips to ensure that your meetings go smoothly.

Be Well-Prepared
Meeting preparation tips:

1. Make sure you have up-to-date directions for where you are going to have the meeting.
2. Dress professionally.
3. Take business cards.
4. Research the individuals you will be meeting with.
5. Prepare your materials. Make sure you have your presentation, website, and portfolio handy on your computer and that you take a notepad and pen for writing notes.
6. Practice your presentation.

Make a Positive First Impression
When going into the meeting, be confident, smile, and give a firm handshake. Allow the prospect to be seated first.

Remember that people do business with people they like. To build rapport, before launching into your presentation, it can be good to have some casual small talk. Also, detach yourself from the outcome. If you get the work, great. But if not, that is okay too.

Ask Questions that Guide the Meeting
Set the tone for the meeting by asking good questions that will make the sales close a natural conclusion. For example, to start out, you can ask the prospect to tell you about their business, what motivated them to have the meeting, and what they want to accomplish with the meeting.

Next, you can dive deeper by asking them about where they are now with their business and where they want to be, what problems they are experiencing and how long they have had those problems. These questions help you to uncover their pain points and goals. Present your solution as the bridge between where they are now and where they want to be.  This is more powerful than simply talking about your company and how great your products and services are.

Ask the prospect what they would specifically like to get out of the meeting. They might answer that they want a step-by-step plan, some strategies to solve a certain problem, or they might want to know how you can help their business in the long run.

Determine if there is a Good Fit
Based on what the prospect has told you, determine if there is a good fit to work together. If there is no fit, it is okay. Let the prospect know that it does not look like there is a fit at this time.

Show Case Studies
Showing a prospect some case studies of your previous success builds trust and can help them to understand what you do. Structure your case studies as stories and use statistics if possible.

Close the Meeting
To wrap up the meeting, thank the prospect for their time and let them know that you enjoyed the conversation. Remember to be confident and smile. Give the prospect your business card and schedule a follow-up meeting with them.

A coach can help you to perfect your face-to-face meeting skills so that you get more customers for your business.