How to Nail Your Decision Maker Meeting

3 Essential Sales Strategies...

(with AI Prompts to Assist)

Meeting with a decision maker is often the turning point in the sales process. It’s where the opportunity to move forward—or get stuck in indecision—often lies. To make the most of these meetings, senior salespeople and sales leaders must be strategic, value-driven, and intentional in their approach. Here are three essential sales strategies to help you nail that critical meeting.

1. Smart Prep: Know the Decision Maker’s Priorities

Before entering a meeting with a decision maker, your preparation must be laser-focused on understanding their priorities, challenges, and motivations. It’s not enough to check their LinkedIn profile or skim their company website. Dig deeper—research the industry trends, recent developments, and what their top clients are demanding from their company. This research gives you insight into their business drivers and pressures, allowing you to tailor your conversation to what matters most to them right now. I call these critical focal points “Win Themes.” These themes form the backbone of your conversation and ensure you speak directly to their priorities and aspirations.

AI Prompt Example: 

"Analyze recent trends in [industry] and identify top challenges for companies like [company name]. Provide insights into how these challenges are impacting the executives for a company like [company name] ."

Use this prompt to quickly generate industry insights that can help you to shape your Win Themes.

2. Frame the Conversation Around Value, Not Features

Decision makers don’t care about a laundry list of features—they care about how your solution will impact their business outcomes. Whether it’s increasing revenue, cutting costs, or mitigating risk, your conversation should be focused on the value you bring to their strategic goals. This means taking the time to translate product features into measurable business benefits. Strengthen your points by providing evidence, such as stories of other clients who achieved similar goals using your solution. These stories help illustrate your impact and differentiate you from the competition.

AI Prompt Example:

"Generate success stories of companies using [product/solution] to improve [business outcome], including key metrics and challenges resolved."

This prompt helps you craft persuasive stories that demonstrate value and back up your claims with evidence.

3. Create Urgency and Clear Next Steps

One of the biggest risks in meetings with decision makers is falling into the trap of indecision and endless delays. To avoid this, you need to create urgency. Share a compelling story about a company that delayed moving forward and suffered negative consequences. Highlight the potential risks of waiting too long, whether it’s losing market share, increasing costs, or missing growth opportunities. After emphasizing the urgency, provide clear and actionable next steps. Make it easy for the decision maker to move forward by suggesting a follow-up meeting, outlining a timeline, or asking for a preliminary commitment.

AI Prompt Example:

"Craft a story of a company that delayed their decision on [business solution] and experienced negative consequences, focusing on financial or operational impacts." 

This prompt generates a cautionary tale that can be used to create a sense of urgency in the meeting.

Conclusion: Turn Decision Maker Meetings into Big Wins

Excelling at decision maker meetings requires more than a generic ‘About’ presentation. It requires a deep understanding of their top-level priorities, the ability to translate features into meaningful business value, and the skill to create urgency around taking action.

By engaging in smart prep with a strategic selling mindset, focusing on the value you bring, and laying out clear next steps, you’ll position yourself as a trusted advisor and dramatically increase the chances of moving forward and ‘Sealing the deal’!

P.S. If you're regularly engaging with senior decision makers, don’t miss out on my LinkedIn Learning course, ‘Winning Over Execs: Sales Presentations with an AI Boost’. In just one hour, you’ll gain proven strategies that have helped my clients close millions in revenue. Plus, you’ll receive a valuable AI prompt guide that offers prompt examples for every step to enhance your presentations. Ready to elevate your game? Check it out here! https://bit.ly/3Vxorrx