It was in January, when I found my self on a professional meeting of a Greek company, ready to close a deal with a Turkish company. The Turkish team came to Greece to see how the storing company was working, and to talk some more face to face with the man assigned to close the deal. What I saw from both sides was lack of preperation.
Ok let’s take for granted that since you are not an English man or an American, nobody expects from you to talk as fluently as a native speaker. Also nobody will expects you to talk with a full English accent. But at least prepare for what you are about to do. The Turkish and the Greek counterpart both were speaking English, but here and there they were loosing their words, so when trying to remember what they wanted to say, they started scratching their elbows and their heads. For us that we have study the Body Language, scratching head – nose – elbow – forearm – ear and jaw, are some clear indications that a person is quite nervous for something.
Now, when talking about business, is this person nervous because feels unsure about the upcoming deal? Is he nervous because he tries to exploit the other company? Is he nervous because he tries to trick his counterpart? Nobody knows for sure, but clearly such behaviour isn’t doing any good.
Ηow could someone prepare for a meeting ?
1) The first part is maybe the most important! Gather as many Intel about the person you are about to see, and his company. Getting to learn some things about a person, helps you built a personal profil of him. Helps you understand how to prepare for the meeting, and what to wear also. Your clothes can provide an indication of what kind of person are you. Someone who goes on a business meeting by wearing a tuxedo, surely shows a professional image. First impressions (first 10-15 seconds of a meeting) makes you close a deal, or not. 55-60% of Communication is how we look and move. The other 40% is divided on what we are saying and how we are saying it.
2) Once you know the person’s name, do some Recon. Search for his page on LinkedIn and Facebook. If someone is a professional then he most likely has his own page on these social media. See what he is wearing in his professional meetings, celebrations, awards ceremonies. Is he a smiley person or mostly a serious one? Use your findings..
3) Write down on a piece of paper, what is the subject of the meeting,
and all the possible topics you are about to cover on that meeting.
4) Track down key words such as Terminology, and search them on the Internet or on a special dictionary (for Engineering – Mathematics…… depending on your area of expertise). Then learn them.
5) Imagine that you would have to close a business deal with people having the same nationality with you, talking the same language. Write down every possible subject and question you will be asked to answer. Do it on your native speaking language, then translate the text into English. Read it again and again in order to become familiar with the words.
6) Do a Reality Check.. Find another person who also speaks English, and do some practice with him/her, like he/she was the client. If there isn’t such a person, find a room with a mirror, and do some practice in front of the mirror by yourself.
7) If the deal is with a foreign company, find someone who knows the language. You need to know what they say on their own language, when they think you do not understand them. You can ask the local Consulate or Embassy to provide you with a translator. Don’t show to the other company members that you have a translator, for this will make them cautious.. We don’t want that.
So there you have it. 7 best practices that will help have the best results on a business meeting.
Christos Marine.
Chris' s Blog 