One on one meetings are the very foundation of our in-person chapters.

When we established our leadership committees, I created worksheets and cheat sheets for pretty much every single thing they need to do… but I didn’t include the one on ones so I was going to make a quick cheat sheet for them.

Instead, I decided this was too valuable to only keep to our leadership, so here’s a wholeeeeee post for you!

Of any form of marketing, networking, advertising or otherwise, the one on one meeting consistently has the HIGHEST conversion rate from turning potentially interested people into actual members for our in-person chapters.

Here’s the kicker… During my one on ones, I only spend about two minutes telling them about MEB and the rest of the time I focus on them.

There are a million different ways to approach a one on one meeting but I’ve found that this method reallyyyyyy gets them engaged and helps me figure out the best way(s) to help them.

Before we get started, if the thought of asking for the one on one makes you nervous, I’ve got a wholeeeee blog post for you right here:

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… And if you’re the person who treats your business cards like frisbees instead of having a genuine conversation when you meet them, this one is especially for you:

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Now let’s get to work.

Write this down…

Everyone wants to buy but no one wants to be sold.

Everyone wants to buy but no one wants to be sold. Click To Tweet

With that in mind, most salespeople spend like nine million years talking about how great their product or service is and the listener might nod along politely… and you may or may not be getting through to them but without asking great questions and understanding what they actually need, you literally have no idea.

Instead of talking their ear off about stuff that may or may not be important to them, listen more… Ask more questions.

You’ll be amazeddddd at what people will tell you if you just ask the right questions and make them feel like they’re being heard without being judged.

With this approach, they’ll usually tell you exactly how to win them over and you can finesse your way through that conversation without actually trying to sell them at all.

Your goal is to be a solution to their challenges, not to try to force a sale.

Your goal is to be a solution to their challenges, not to try to force a sale. Click To Tweet

Do Your Research Before You Meet

Social media and Google are goldmines of information on people.

See what mutual friends you have, check out their interests, take note of any awards they’ve received and anything you have in common.

A quick 3 minute search on someone will give you TONS to talk about.

Keep in mind, when you go into your one on one, you’re not going with the “I stalked you and know everything about you” mentality…

You’re just looking for something to help relate to them and guide your conversation and it will help you seem genuinely interested in them.

A few quick little icebreakers that you might use are things like…

“When I added you on [insert social media site], I noticed you’re connected to ___. So funny! [insert how you know them]. How do you know them?” (PLEASE NOTE: Never ever ever speak lowly of anyone with this approach)

“I saw you recently went to ___. I’ve been meaning to go there! How was it?” 

Figuring out what you have in common means you can build rapport with them quickly.

The research part of networking is so important that I created a quick little worksheet to help you flesh out the important information before you meet with someone and you can download it totally free right here:

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Be Human + Ask Great Questions

For the people who don’t think small talk matters, I hope I can give you a quick mindset shift…

I want you to write this down…

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Click To Tweet

Is that airy-fairy? Sure.

Let’s put that a different way…

People will zone out of whatever you have to say until you start talking about something they’re interested in.

How do you decide what they’re interested in?

By getting to know them first.

People will literally tell you how to sell them if you just ask the right questions and you listen.

People will literally tell you how to sell them if you just ask the right questions and you listen. Click To Tweet

Instead of spending all of your time talking about how great your product, service or opportunity is, you can literally just focus on what they’re looking for… and then customize your “pitch” (and I use that word lightly) to them.

Make no mistake though, if you are going for an “ask”, you are selling.

We are ALL salespeople, but instead of a hardcore sales approach, we’re taking a consultative approach.

We are ALL salespeople, but instead of a hardcore sales approach, we're taking a consultative approach. Click To Tweet

Whether it’s a product, service, yourself or an opportunity… You’re selling.

For example…

Let’s say you’re a financial advisor and someone says, “I never heard from my last person.”

When you go to sell them, your presentation goes like this…

“I can tell that communication is important to you… Here’s how I communicate with my clients…”

Boom.

Sold.

Easy peasy.

By knowing exactly what they’re looking for, your pitch will be shorter too.

By knowing exactly what they're looking for, you can customize your sales pitch to exactly what they're looking for. Click To Tweet

They don’t need to hear every piece of your pitch, just the parts they care about.

If you’re still not comfortable with what to talk about, I wrote a wholeeeee post just for you.

Even if you are comfortable with it, I still recommend that you read it because it goes through a super simple approach for basically getting someone’s whole life story in a matter of 30 minutes.

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Offer Value

As you’re chatting, start thinking about the ways you can offer value.

Instead of just interrupting them to fake relate to them, figure out ways to help them.

Instead of just interrupting your new connections during conversations to fake relate to them, figure out ways to help them. Click To Tweet

The amount of effort you put into helping them will be reflected in the amount of effort they put into helping you.

My absolute favoriteeee way to add value to people is to introduce them to someone else in my network…

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Think about it… Introducing two people can literally change the course of both of their lives.

… and by doing that, I keep the attention on them, am contributing value, I get to reconnect with two people at the same time (aka killing two birds with one stone) and I know that once they connect, they’re going to brag about how awesome I am since the first thing they have in common to talk about is me.

Talk about getting your audience to brag about you!

Among other ways to add value, you can tell them about a book, podcast or other resource that you came across that can help them reach their goals.

… but I like making introductions the best.

Go For Your Ask

After you’ve gotten to know them, learned about their goals, challenges, successes and so on… At some point, they’re going to ask about you.

It’s human nature…

We don’t like to feel vulnerable if the other people in our space aren’t also vulnerable.

So by focusing on connecting with them and showing them that you care, they’re going to CARE about what you have to say.

Yup.

After you’ve asked them how you can help them, they’ll usually finish it off with, “so how can I help you?”

So when they do ask about you, tell them about your goals… and more specifically, make your “goal” your “ask” clear.

During my usual one on ones, there’s a point where they go (literally almost verbatim at every single one on one), “so what about you?”

I’ll usually laugh and talk about why I do what I do.

They almost always comment on my passion for helping people reach their goals…

At this point, my “asks” vary based on what context I’m meeting the person.

Some people I’d like to have sponsor MEB events, some are for real estate clients, some are for specific introductions and some are for members.

Whatever you do, make your ask easy to say yes to.

Whatever you do, make your ask easy to say yes to. Click To Tweet

Instead of, “become a client” or “buy my product”, give them a baby step to say yes to…

Ask for an introduction, share a resource with them that they might find valuable or ask them to come to a free event.

When you’re first getting started, keep your ask consistent.

With one specific ask, whenever the people in your network talk about you, they’ll start to mastermind about how to help you.

Seriously, I’m not kidding.

I’m a huge fan of earning the business in the follow-up so my first ask isn’t usually hardcore. It’s more of like a temperature test… and as I go through the follow-up process after our meeting, they warm up to the idea.

If the idea of following up seems overwhelming, I’ve got justttttt the post for you.

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As for going for the ask, it’s probably going to feel clumsy and weird to ask at first, but it gets easier.

… but have an ask and ask it often.

Action Items and Recap

My goal is to blow people’s mind… but I don’t want to have to kill myself to do it.

That’s why I’m obsessed with systems.

My goal is to blow people's mind... but I don't want to have to kill myself to do it... That's why I'm obsessed with systems. Click To Tweet

At the end of your meeting, recap with your action items and do them as soon as you finish.

Let me say that again so that you don’t skip over it.

Do a quick recap with the person you’re meeting at the end of the meeting…

This is superrrrr simple.

You ready?

“I’m going to ___ and you’ll have it by __ and I look forward to [whatever they said they’d do].”

If you don’t end your meetings with action items, it’s wayyyy too easy to have a great conversation that nothing ever comes out of.

If you don't end your meetings with action items, it's wayyyy too easy to have a great conversation that nothing ever comes out of. Click To Tweet

Every. single. conversation. should have an action item at the end.

It’s how you keep things moving forward.

Thennnn, do the action item right after.

I like to do them sitting in my car before I drive off or if I get to my next destination with a few minutes to spare, I’ll do it while waiting.

Keep in mind, my absolute favorite way to add value is to make introductions.

It’s the easiest way to have a hugeeeee impact on someone’s life that takes you literally no effort.

For the sake of length of this post, I’m not going to get into alllll the details of following up after a meeting because I’ve written an entireeeee post about how to turn your new connections into real relationships that you can monetize.

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