I want to hit four of these most common mistakes so you can simply skip them! I promise you, I’ve made them all and there’s really no reason to go back there. Most importantly, once you get your foot in the door for an investor meeting, you want to keep it going. The four common mistakes I’m going to address are assumptions, making promises you won’t keep, talking too much and looking desperate.
Today we’re talking: TALKING TOO MUCH
No one likes a know-it-all. So, let’s just present what we have, let people make some good decisions, and help them really understand what a great opportunity you’ve got for them. If they head down the wrong path or ask questions, answer those questions but do your best to let them talk and let them throw in their expertise and advice.
You know what people love more than anything else? They love hearing their name and they love talking. If they’re the only ones who talk, they will often feel like you know them better than anybody else when they leave that conversation. Let them talk.
When somebody across the table from us has their mouth running, you can learn so much. I love getting people to talk because there’s a lot of good insight into who they are as a person, what their real motivators are, what they want to be, where they want to go in life, what their family is like, what their professional background is, etc. Lots of great key points that help you understand who they are and what you can do to work with them and help them succeed with you. If you’re the one talking, you’re not learning. They’re learning about you and will be able to tell if you’re insecure about how this is going.
Run with your script and ask them questions (e.g. What do you think about that? Tell me more about what you’re working on. What advice would you have for me?). Lots of questions can get them talking. What investments have you done in the past? If you were to invest in this deal today, what would you be looking for? Just let them run.
Most people sell themselves.
A lot of selling is just presenting something to someone in the right way where they can start convincing themselves they want in. We want to give somebody a really good script, help them understand that we know who they are, we know what our solution for the market is, and we know that market well. Let them talk. They’re going to start selling themselves. Let them get excited. Let them get passionate about it. Those are great things. It saves you a lot of work, a lot of trouble, and if you’re really listening, it helps you know exactly what motivates them.
