Communications is about emotion.  Successful people communicate well and have the ability to influence opinion or dissuade belief.  After you’ve met someone and time passes, that person will not remember the specifics of your conversation nor will they remember what you looked like at the time….but they will remember HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.  Always leave a positive impression.

When meeting a client for the first time, the primary goals are: a) build trust; b) set the level of expectation between you and the client; c) develop, negotiate guidelines, milestones and deliverables and d) take ownership.

Questions to think about for the first client meeting:

1. Who is the company and what do they provide?
2. Who are the principals and what can you glean from their website, search engine or collateral about their profile?
3. What is their mission and focus? Does their messaging reflect their mission or direction/products/services focus?
4. Can you decipher their singular message and does it have brand appeal?
5. Who are their target audiences? (market segment, company size, responsibility title, revenue, application, etc.)
6. How do they sell to their audience base – what is their distribution channel model?
7. What and how do they support their sales and marketing model?
8. How is marketing done and what do they think is needed to improve it?
9. What are the strategic issues that have impacted their business?
10. What business opportunities do they see in the horizon?
11. How do they describe their business and infrastructure model?
12. Who are their competition and what are their strength and weaknesses? What has the competition done right/wrong?
13. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
14. What competitive threats do they (or you) foresee in the current timeframe and future?
15. What do they wish to accomplish with an X period of time with respect to: 1) revenue; 2) profit; 3) infrastructure; 4) personnel; 5) business and market position; 6) continuation strategy, etc.
16. How would you test their branding strength? What can be done to improve it?
17. What marketing actions have they done and what were their successes and failures?
18. Think about their product or service roadmap, pricing strategy, audience and channel strategy, sales and marcom and support strategy?

These questions can assist you both understanding your client and in creating a powerful brand for yourself.

Coach Curtis Chan
President & CEO
CHAN & ASSOCIATES, INC.

Email: cj_chan@chanandassoc.com
Email: cjchan@cognitiveimpact.com