Most people say

It was a good meeting

when they really have to say

It was a meeting where I felt good

All good meetings will probably make you feel good but all meetings where you felt good may not be good meetings.

This is very common in the world of sales.

A good meeting is one where the meeting is followed up by actions that are moving you and the other person in the direction of a mutual win.

A meeting where you felt good is one where the follow on actions are unclear but you felt good be it because the other person was fully responsive or warm or both. In general, it happens when you “wanted” to come back with a feeling that it was a good meeting so badly that you will find reasons to feel good about the meeting.

Earlier in my career, I used to have a lot of “feel good” meetings and I would label them as “good meetings” only to build castles in air. It took a few years to build the courage to properly label the meetings for what they were.

Mislabeling meetings may result in a chain of fantasies. You think a meeting was good and you will report to other stakeholders that it was good. They report to a few more and now everyone is thinking and factoring this good meeting into their future plans. The castles in the air will come crashing sooner than later wasting everybody’s time.

Takeaway:

All good meetings will probably make you feel good, but, all meetings where you felt good may not be good meetings.

Photo courtesy: BEST FEELER on flickr