Blue Thirst’s Training Day at Google, London.
On Wednesday 6th September 2017, the Blue Thirst team had an early start, beginning their journey up to London. As a Google Premier Partner, the company received an invite to join fellow marketers at the Google Office for an Account Manager Specialist Training day. Of course, we accepted.
The purpose of the day was to boost confidence in Account Managers when facing clients, structuring meetings and refining essential skills. The Google office itself is an incredible experience; with rooms full of sofas, an in-office radio studio and multiple restaurants each with their own theme. Led by, Larissa, a Google Representative, the day consisted of six lectures tailored specifically for the role of Account Managers.
Perhaps the most interesting of the seminars was learning how to structure a meeting before seeing the client to ensure you get what you want out of it. Google gave us a template to optimise meeting planning that follows the below structure:
1. Understand you audience. What do they want to discuss? What is more important to them?
2. Know the purpose of the meeting. Why are you having the meeting?
3. Understand desired outcomes. How will you know if the meeting goes well?
4. Know your objectives for the meeting. What will you cover during the meeting?
5. How will you open the meeting? Remember that the first 3 seconds of meeting someone are vital to how they see you.
6. Understand the potential objections from the client. What might they object to and how will you overcome this?
7. Closing the meeting. What next steps will you set?
You should answer these questions before each meeting, even if you are just listing the answers in your head. This template is a helpful way to get the most out of your client meetings.
Our day at Google was highly beneficial and gave a boost of confidence for myself (as a new Account Manager). Not to mention the food and stationary freebies!