Imagine, as an example, a small metalworking shop in Caxias do Sul, in southern Brazil, that signs up for an online business round on Monday and only thinks about what to say on Thursday, ten minutes before the round starts. Early on, a buyer asks whether it can serve orders in the Northeast with delivery in two weeks, and the owner says yes without being sure. Later, the camera freezes in the middle of a presentation. The day ends with a commitment that will be hard to keep and little to show for it. Almost all of this can be avoided with preparation, and the free Preparation Checklist puts the before, during and after in a single list. This article walks through each stage, in the order it happens.
If you are new to the format, start with the guide to how a business round works. The focus here is different: a timeline for people who have already decided to take part and want to arrive at their conversations knowing what to say, what to ask and, above all, what not to promise.
Know your own business: strengths and limits
Preparation starts far from the camera. Before thinking about your pitch, answer honestly what your company can deliver today. In a short conversation, the temptation is to say yes to everything, because the other side's interest is nice to hear. But a yes you cannot keep costs more than a well-explained no: it burns the contact and, sometimes, the referral that would have come later.
Delivery capacity
How much can you produce or serve per month without delaying your current clients? If a large order arrived tomorrow, what would have to change: an extra shift, outsourcing, new hires? Having this answer ready keeps you from promising a volume your operation cannot handle.
Lead time
What is your real lead time, from order to delivery, and what is it during your peak season? Always quote the lead time you meet in the bad months, not the one from your best month of the year.
Region you serve
Online rounds bring together companies from many cities, and it is common to talk to someone from another state. Decide beforehand whether you deliver outside your region, who pays for shipping and whether the service can be done remotely. If you do not serve that area, say so right away: the conversation can still turn into a referral to a partner.
Minimum order
Is there a value or quantity below which a sale is not worth it? Many small companies only find out after accepting an order that was too small. Knowing your minimum helps you tell, during the conversation itself, a real buyer from someone who is just curious.
A simple table sums up the exercise. Fill in yours before the round and keep it in sight.
| Limit | Question to answer beforehand | How to say it in the conversation |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity | How much more can I take on without delaying current clients? | "We can take on an order of that size starting next month." |
| Lead time | What lead time do I meet even at peak? | "This is our standard lead time; at the end of the year, it gets longer." |
| Region | Where do I deliver, and with what shipping? | "We serve the South directly; other regions ship by carrier." |
| Minimum order | Below what value is a sale not worth the effort? | "We work from a minimum order; I can send you our terms." |
On the strengths side, write down what you do better than average: short lead times, close service, customization, a certification. One or two, each with a concrete example, are enough for the conversation.
Decide who you want to meet
With your limits clear, it is easier to say who the right client is. Think about sector, size, region and the problem your company solves best. The Ideal Customer Builder guides you through this in a few questions, and the article on how to define your ideal customer explains each criterion in more depth.
This definition goes straight into your profile on the platform. You describe what you offer and what you are looking for, and your suggested conversations are with people looking for what you offer, with no repeated conversations. The clearer your profile, the more accurate the suggestions tend to be. Write with the words your buyer would type into a search, not with your company slogan.
One week before
The week before is for the work that needs a calm head. Block out time in your calendar, as you would to visit a client.
Review your profile
Reread what you offer and what you are looking for. Remove internal terms, acronyms and vague phrases such as "complete solutions". If you sell to more than one type of client, make it clear which one is the priority for this round.
Write and rehearse your pitch
Each conversation lasts only a few minutes, so your introduction has to fit in one minute: who you are, who you sell to and what you are looking for. The Pitch Generator builds a 60-second version, a 30-second version and an opening question from your answers. Use the result as a draft and rewrite it the way you actually speak. The article on the 60-second sales pitch has templates and examples. Rehearse out loud, with a timer, until you no longer need to read it.
Prepare the material to send
Set aside a lightweight file to send afterwards: a short presentation, your catalog or your commercial terms. Save it somewhere you can find in seconds. Include the same capacity, lead time, region and minimum order you defined, so there is no gap between what you said and what you sent.
Prepare your opening questions
In the platform's online round, no list of companies arrives beforehand: the pairs are formed live, among the people who are present. So prepare two or three questions that work for any buyer of your product. When each conversation opens, the screen shows the person's name, the company, what it does, what it is looking for and why it was suggested. Read that card in the first few seconds and adapt your question. This replaces the generic "so what do you do?" with something that shows real interest.
The day before
The day before is for checking, not creating. If your pitch is still not ready, simplify it instead of rewriting everything at midnight.
Run the technical test
- Camera: place it at eye level, with light coming from the front (a window or lamp behind the screen, never behind you). Clean the lens.
- Connection: test from the exact spot you will join from. If your internet is unstable, use a cable, sit close to the router or have your phone ready as a hotspot.
- Audio: a headset with a microphone prevents echo and noise. Make a test call with someone and ask how you sound.
- Setting: pick a quiet place with a neutral background and the door closed. Tell your team you will be unavailable during that time.
- Equipment: charger plugged in, notifications off, other tabs and programs closed.
Put together a support sheet
On a single page: your pitch, your limits table, your opening questions and the next step you want to propose (a longer meeting, sending a proposal, a visit). Keep it next to the screen so you can check it without searching.
On the day
Log in to the platform a few minutes before the start. Each conversation has a fixed time and the room changes automatically, with no one needing to share a link. And the pairs are formed among the people already present: being late does not push a conversation back, you simply miss that meeting.
During each conversation
- Read the other company's card and why it was suggested, and open with a question based on it.
- Introduce yourself in one minute and hand over the floor.
- Listen more than you talk. Ask how they buy today and what bothers them about their current supplier.
- When a request falls outside your limits, say what you can do, with lead time and conditions, instead of a generic yes.
- Agree on the next step before time runs out.
Between conversations
At the end of each conversation, each side marks whether there was interest, and contact details are only shared when both sides mark it. Mark with care, thinking about what you can actually deliver, and write one line on your support sheet about what was agreed. When it is time to follow up, that note is worth more than your memory.
Online or in person
The business side of preparation (limits, ideal customer, pitch, questions) is the same in both formats. What changes is the logistics.
Online, the technical check from the day before is almost the whole difference: camera, connection, audio and setting. The advantage is joining from your own office, with no travel and no full day away, and talking to companies from other cities. The risk is distraction: phone, email and colleagues knocking on the door. Treat the round as you would a meeting with a client.
In person, participants have other items to handle: arriving early enough for check-in, bringing business cards and some printed material or a light sample, planning the trip and the time away from the company, and saving your voice in a room full of simultaneous conversations. The limits table works the same way, maybe even more: face to face, the pressure to say yes is greater.
After the last conversation
Preparation includes what comes next. If contact details were shared, the other side expects to hear from you while the conversation is still fresh. Block time right after the round to look up those who marked interest and send the messages and material you promised. The article on following up after a business meeting shows what to write and when to try again.
Go back to your limits table too. If a conversation brought a request you turned down because of capacity or region, write it down: it may show where it is worth growing, or which kind of partner is worth looking for.
Where to start
Start with your limits: fill in the capacity, lead time, region and minimum order table today, even without a round on your calendar. Then define your ideal customer, write your pitch and schedule the technical test for the day before. With that done, the rest is rehearsal.
Your company's first online business round is on us: all you need is an active Brazilian CNPJ (the Brazilian company registration number), once per CNPJ, and contact details are only shared when both sides mark interest. See the upcoming business rounds and pick one to put this plan into practice.