There’s no such thing as a meeting where you were [[Pitching]] a product that “went well”. Like ideas, meetings are either pass or fail. Specifically if you’re post product and you’re [[Asking for commitments]], anything short of concrete next steps is usually a no. ## Signs a meeting was a failure (post-product) - ”Let’s talk again after the holidays…” - ”Don’t call me I’ll call you” - If you leave with a compliment or a stalling tactic ## Signs a meeting was a success (post-product) - When it ends with a commitment to advance to the next step after [[Asking for commitments] ## How to fix a bad meeting Push for a commitment at the end when you’re being brushed off with a compliment - Don’t be annoying or overbearing - just try to cut through polite rejections and see if they’re actually interested and on track - If they’re not excited, that’s good data, they’re not interested **It’s not a real lead until you’ve given them a concrete chance to reject you** ## Common traps - You’re asking for their opinion about your idea (i.e fishing for compliments, leading to [[bad data]] and [[false positives]]) - You’re not asking for clear commitment or next steps Getting told no is a good strong piece of data - not knowing whether or not it’s a no is a dangerous piece of data. ## Rule of thumb - If you don’t know what happens next after a product or sales meeting, the meeting was pointless.