In this 20‑minute coaching video Frances Pratt teaches small‑business sellers how to run an effective first client meeting using a simple three‑part structure – You, Me, and the Next Step. She begins with rapport‑building tactics such as arriving early, researching the prospect (what she calls “Google stalking”), and using personal ice‑breakers. The core of the method is to let the client do most of the talking (about 80%) by asking open, progressive questions that dig deeper into their business, challenges, and desired outcomes. Pratt stresses active listening – watching non‑verbal cues, mentally suspending self‑focus, and repeatedly summarising the client’s statements to demonstrate understanding and make the client feel valued. She warns against jumping to solutions too quickly, arguing that the client must articulate the problem fully before a solution is offered. The meeting ends with a concise recap and a clearly defined next step (proposal, email, price, or follow‑up call) with a mutually agreed time, ensuring accountability for both parties. Throughout, she blends enthusiastic, conversational tone with practical, step‑by‑step instructions, encouraging viewers to apply the framework in their own sales calls.
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Good morning, beautiful Facebook world! How are you all? I hope you're having a beautiful day. The sun is shining here in Melbourne, so for those of you who are in Melbourne, yay for sunshine and blue skies! It feels like it's been an eternity between sunshine, but when I think back to my live from last week, I think it was— the sun was shining then too. So even though it feels like an eternity, actually it hasn't been. But I hope you're all surviving this Bit of a winter snap in spring. But today I don't want to talk to you about the weather. What I want to talk to you about is having some fantastic connections and client meetings. And talking about the weather is one way to do that. So certainly when you first meet someone for the first time, you can sit there and absolutely talk about the weather. How are you? All of those things. If I'm meeting in an office, then I like to get there a little bit early. I do some what I call research, also known as Google stalking, on the person. So one time I actually found out that someone had a horse race named after him, so that was a great conversation starter, just saying to him, wow, how do you get a horse race named after you? So don't be shy to do some research because For you, that makes you feel more confident, and for the person that you're talking to, they go, wow, this person's made a bit of effort, and that makes them feel important. And that's what we want, don't we? We want our clients and potential clients to feel important and loved and focused on. So that's just one way to do that. So when you're in a meeting, I have a really, really simple structure that I'd love to share with you. It's called You, me, and the next step. Often when people aren't confident or very knowledgeable about how to sell, they think it's about talking about themselves a lot. And it is about talking about you, but not a lot and not first. So the you component in my you, me, and the next step— the you component is actually your client. Your first job is to get them talking. So one of those icebreakers about, wow, how do you get a horse named— a horse race named after you just gets them in that mood and in that mode of talking about themselves. So think about what your openers are. So you can talk about them and what you've learned from your Google stalking. You can talk about— get them to talk about their business. And the great thing is that people love talking about themselves as a general rule. So So you shouldn't have any problems in getting people to explain what their business is about, what their particular problem is. So when I'm talking to someone in business, I say, so tell me about your sales and your salespeople. What if you could fix one thing, what would that be? So very open questions, not yes/no questions. And when they talk to me, they go, you know, they might say a particular thing. I go, oh, tell me a bit more about that. So it's absolutely about digging. So if I'm in a meeting, I want 80% of the time to be them talking. So if we're thinking about that, getting them talking, then the really important thing is to ask awesome questions. So I think it was Anthony Robbins, but someone very smart like that said, great people ask better questions. So when you ask awesome questions, you get better insights. And again, thinking about you, if you have a field of questions, then you're gonna feel confident. So think about your business, think about what you need to know to help people, and focus in on those things. Obviously, you've got to start a little bit more general and then kind of dig down. The second thing that is really important is Is that when you're asking questions, to make them open. You can certainly start with, with closed sort of yes/no. Sometimes if I'm feeling a bit nervous, or the person I'm coaching says that they feel a bit nervous, often I get people to start with questions that they already know the answer to. So, so I see you've been in business for 10 years, and the client can go, yes. And I see you've done this. Yes. And then once you've had a few of those, you can say, okay, so tell me a little bit more about whatever it is that you're, that you're particularly interested in with this client. So questions, questions, questions. So dig, dig, dig. And don't be afraid to say that you don't understand. Oh, you mentioned this. Can you tell me a bit more about that? I don't exactly understand what you meant by that. Can you explain what that means to you? Because language is a very complex thing. And as we're going through all of these things, the client will discover things for themselves. You know, when you're talking to a friend about a problem or about an issue, sometimes in that talking you discover new things that you hadn't even thought through for yourself. So the client's gonna love it, love it, love it, love it. And the other thing is, because you're focusing on them, they're gonna feel important and loved, which is what we want our clients to feel. So there's some awesome reasons. Now, don't— one tip for you, don't move too quickly to solution because sometimes we can see a problem. So if someone says to me, oh, I have this problem, and sometimes the temptation is, because you want to help them, is to jump in and, and give them the solution straight away. Don't do that. 2 reasons. One, you need to understand the problem better from the client's perspective. And secondly, the client really needs to feel that problem through and talk it through with you for themselves so that they realize that they have to solve it. So that's why the questions are so important in making sure you've got a really clear understanding. At the end of the questions, then what I want you to do to show that you've been listening is summarize. And then we move into the me step. Before I do that, I I just have a few tips about listening. When you listen, yes, you use your ears, but you also use all of your senses and all of your body. So you use your ears to listen, you use your brain. Now there's 2 functions for your brain. One, stop thinking about yourself and your shopping, or, you know, don't distract yourself and your brain. Really focus in what the client is saying. That's and be conscious of your social filters and be conscious of what you're understanding and not understanding. 2, use your eyes because 87% of communication is nonverbal. So if you're sitting in front of someone and you can see that they're engaged or not engaged or into an ooh, whatever, use those verbal cues. So I often say something like, oh, you seem a bit confused about this, or You seem like you just had a new insight about that. Can you share that with me? So the face and our body tells a thousand stories. So focus in on that. And lastly, we also use our mouth when we're listening. And I know that sounds a bit counterintuitive, but when we're truly listening, what we want to do is ascertain that we've got it right. And the only way to do that is to repeat back. So what I've heard you say is this, this, and this. So if I could summarize what I've heard from you today and do a quick Summary of it. Now, how's the client going to feel when you do that? They're going to feel listened to and loved and awesome. And that's when we— so they're feeling good, they've shared, they've got some stuff off their chest, and now you can talk about you. But this is only 2 rules. One, only a little bit. And 2, you can only make it relevant to what you've just heard. So there's no I started, you know, I was born in 1971 and, you know, I've been doing this. And they don't want a laundry list. They want to know how you can help them. So that's what we focus on. So I would use cues from what they've said. So I would say, thank you so much for sharing that for me, Summerie. Let me tell you what I've heard and how I can help you. What I heard you say is XYZ. How I can help you with that is XYZ. What I've heard you say is— so you're always relating it back to the client and checking in at the end. Does that make sense to you? Is that something that you think might help you? Is there something else that you would like to know? So the questions don't stop when you're in your me component. And lastly, lastly, lastly, people forget— you've had an awesome meeting, but people forget this really crucial thing that's going to make your life so much easier. Trust me, it's called the next step. So again, at the end, I summarize. Thank you so much for meeting with me today. What I've learned is the 3 key things. The solution that you and I focused on together was— it's probably one thing that they most engaged with when you were talking through the solution options. What I'm going to do now is whatever your next step is. Is it to write a proposal? Is it to follow it up with an email? Is it to give them a price? Is it to sell them the product? What is it? What's that next step? So share that with them. What I'm gonna do now is send you some more information, write a proposal. So given that I, you know, I should be able to get that to you by tomorrow. Given that I do that, when should I give you a follow-up call? So while you're face-to-face, you've committed to a date and time that you're going to give someone something. So you're keeping yourself accountable, and they know when you're going to get— they're going to get it. Fantastic. And More importantly, you set up a follow-up time. So most people will go, oh, look, I've got a meeting on Tuesday, but I need it for Thursday, so how about you give me a call Wednesday? So already they're sharing more information about themselves. Yay, that's what we want. Perfect. What time Wednesday suits you? I can call you at 10. How does that sound? So you've set up a date and a time. So fast forward to Wednesday next week. How do you feel now when you're going to pick up the phone? You don't feel awkward. They're not going to want to hear from me. Is this too soon? Is it too long? Have I, you know, other kids, whatever? No, you're going to know that they're expecting your call at 10 o'clock, and also they know that they're more likely to pick up the phone because again they're expecting your call at 10 o'clock. So, um, when you pick up the phone, they don't always answer. That's okay. And what you do is you say, here I am, 10 o'clock. I'll give you another call in 15 minutes because I know sometimes we just get caught up in things. Okay, so that's you, me, and the next step. So the 3 things that we've covered today are how to have an awesome meeting, the really big importance of focusing on the client and getting them to talk for 80%, listening skills. I want you to really think about your listening skills. And lastly, how to think about the best questions for you and your business and getting the vital information that you need to help someone make a buying decision. So my beautiful people, get out there and help people buy from you, and I would love to know how you're going. And I will see you again next Thursday for week 7. Take care, have fun, bye!
