The Meeting as Marketing

Have been mulling too long on this idea. Time to put some thoughts to paper (or pixels, at least).

The 2 most importamt phases, IMHO, of the sales cycle are the handling of an incoming lead and the first meeting with the prospect. The difference between the former and the latter,  indeed between the latter and virtually all other parts of the cycle, is that that it is not controlled by Marketing Communications = marcomms.

What if it were? Go with me here.

If marcomms controlled the meeting with the prospect, they would apply the same rigour as they do to the advert, the logo, the telemarketing script... etc etc... The brand would be spot on. The words that came out of our mouths would be checked and double-checked for legality, honesty, correctness and, and this is most important, for conveying the MESSAGE properly.

There is a side-thought here, a tributary that tells us something about UK politics and its obsession with being on-message. Are they the first to get the reality of this? Today, we all need to be on-message all the time: the message is controlled by marketing.

So, do we throw the message away when the meeting room door is closed? Do we wing it? See how it goes? Or do we take a more professional approach?

If Marketing controlled the Meeting what would we wear, what questions would we ask and what message would we give?