The False Start: Why Your Team Needs To Start Doing THIS at The Beginning of Every Call

There it was.

For the 3rd time in a row.

A mistake that became a pattern. A pattern that morphed into a disturbing trend.

It was our client’s demo calls.

Were they discounting massively for no reason? No. Were they being unintentionally crude?

Nope.

Were they in Screenshare Hell? Actually, they even had that pretty well on lock.

After months of reviews, I observed they were consistently failing to set an agenda at the start of their calls.

And that’s a serious problem. If YOUR team isn’t doing this on discovery and demos, it’s time you had a huddle, because serious problems mean you might be missing out on serious business.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quick sidebar: Why was I looking at client demo calls?

Startup Hypeman helps growing companies craft pitches that don't suck. This includes ongoing demo call coaching to not only make sure the pitch is delivered well, but to turn the team into badass sellers too.

Learn more at www.startuphypeman.com.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My hunch was substantiated when Wingman (conversation intelligence software and insights partner of Startup Hypeman) hit me with the data. They crunched over 2 million minutes of meetings across 224,000+ calls in a 13-month span. It’s crazy what they found: There is a 120% increase in win-rate when your reps set an agenda.

Which means there’s a lotta $$$ to be made. Now those client calls I was reviewing where I noticed the trend? Turns out it wasn’t just a trend for that rep or even that team. It’s a trend across companies and across industries because Only FOUR PERCENT of calls set an agenda!

Which means that’s a lotta moolah being left on the table.

If your team is in that 96% of NOT agenda-setting, chances are they spend a couple minutes upfront doing some good ol’ fashioned rapport-building, then ask a question like “so tell me why you reached out,” or if it was an outbound lead “tell me what you’re looking for in a solution.”

It’s the equivalent of false-starting in a sprint race. And for my fellow former track stars, this ain’t the Olympics where you get one false start assigned to the field -- instead it’s one and out.

So why is this so impactful? What does a verbal table of contents even do for the call?

An agenda is more than a checklist. It’s a way to provide structure to both your call and your overall deal cycle. A good agenda accomplishes 3 things:

1. It creates an order-of-operations for your call, that BOTH parties agree to.
2. It establishes a common goal. A north star of sorts that you BOTH know you’re building towards. Combined with #1, you’re better able to keep a call on track, and hold focus and attention of your buyer.
3. It allows you to tease next steps at the start of the call, making it easier to establish next steps at the end of the call. It’s a control mechanism.

Basically, a (good) agenda both creates a process, and secures buy-in to that process.

When a buyer is bought-in to the process, the call feels just as much like their call as it does your call, which transforms the deal from a no holds-barred buyer vs. seller cage match into a collaboration.

And you WANT to collab with your buyer like a Supreme x Nike sneaker drop (or a Startup Hypeman x Wingman article!), NOT fight them in a cage like Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy at Wrestlemania.

[Image Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/wrestling/hulk-hogan-pays-tribute-king-14091880]

Now that we know WHY agenda-setting is important and WHAT it accomplishes, HOW do we set a good agenda?

Remember, it’s more than just a table of contents or checklist, so how we bring it up is important. Think of it like its own micro-pitch.

Lucky for you, your old pal Startup Hypeman is the master of the pitch. And I’ve got you and your team covered with a free guide to put you in that 4% so you can increase wins by 120%.

So listen up and put this flava in ya ear. Leaders -- grab a free copy of How To Not Suck At Setting Agendas right here.

This download includes both a framework to build your own agenda micro-pitch, and a sample talk track to see what it’s like in action.

It’s basically an agenda reveal party (couldn’t help myself) without destroying the environment.

Plus, when it comes to collaboration vs. competition, steel cages look like they really hurt and King Kong Bundy was a meeeeeean dude, so get it on this download and leave the wrestling tights for Halloween.

Do you set an agenda on your call? Why or why not? COMMENT BELOW!