Are your KOL meetings not as impactful as you would like?

With KOL access becoming increasingly limited, MSLs need to make every meeting count. It amazes me how many people do not leverage agendas as a way to have impactful meetings! Agendas create structure to the meeting and help ensure that meeting objectives are met. If your meetings tend to go off the rails, then this article is for you.

Keep reading to learn why every KOL meeting should have an agenda and tips for how you can start implementing agendas right away.

Why Every KOL Meeting Should Have an Agenda

Agendas help add structure to your KOL meeting but they also help:

🔹Respect the KOL’s time
🔹Facilitate follow-up
🔹Align expectations (Most important)
🔹Meet your objectives

What would you add to this list?

Tip 1: Have a Go-To KOL Centric Generic Agenda Ready

Having a go-to generic agenda helps you save time by not having to write it from scratch each time. You can use it as a starting point and then build off of that. It also helps if you are in your head and don’t know what to include in the agenda. This way you don’t have to think about it.

Here are some suggestions:

🔹Brief intros
🔹Discussion of your challenge areas
🔹How I can help
🔹Determine next steps, if any

Your agenda template may look very different. Perhaps you already know all your KOLs, so you wouldn’t include intros. Fine-tune and figure out what works for you!

Agenda-Setting Pro Tips

🌟Add in the word brief to the intro. In my opinion, it implies that you aren’t going to waste their time.

🌟Notice how this doesn’t say give an overview of my company. Instead, it says discuss your challenges. This is what is meant by making it KOL centric. Make it about them, not you.

🌟Always include determine next steps. This gets their brain prepared for another meeting or taking further action. If you want to soften it, add the “if any” afterward. It makes it feel like less of a commitment.

What are you agenda setting best practices? Please share!

Tip 2: Include the Agenda in Every Calendar Invite

Add the agenda to every calendar invite so that attendees can look up what to expect. If your KOL doesn’t read calendar invites, add it to the follow-up email. You will appear very organized and like you mean business.

Tip 4: Set the Next meeting & Agenda Simultaneously

Most MSLs try to get the next meeting on the books before ending the meeting. A good practice is to also set the agenda at the same time. It gets the KOL’s brain ready for the next meeting and gives the MSL another way to get buy-in from the KOL.

Tip 5: Add Agenda Setting to your Pre-Meeting Planning Checklist

Remember a checklist is not just a list you check tasks off of (although that is fun). A checklist is a strategic tool to help you not forget anything and consistently deliver value. Here is a customizable pre-meeting checklist to help you get started. Enter your info in the form below for instant access.

Conclusion: Why Every KOL Meeting Should Have An Agenda

By setting clear agendas, MSLs can transform their KOL meetings from unproductive sessions into powerful, goal-crushing, insights gathering interactions. This not only makes meetings better, it also strengthens relationships with KOLs.

Don’t forget to download the free Pre-Meeting Planning Checklist to ensure you’re fully prepared for your next KOL meeting. Make every minute count!