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Weekly Business Development Tip
Who Is Telling The Truth?
Is the truth an elusive commodity? When you are in front of a prospective client, do you ever wonder if they are really telling you the truth? Do they attempt to mislead you in an effort to obtain "free unpaid consulting" from you? How many times have you heard, "we love you," "we've heard great things about you," "we're going to move forward with you," "send us a proposal and call next week to follow-up."
Next week comes and even though you have registered the prospect on the FBI's Most Wanted List, you can't find them. Your prospect's secretary tells you variations on the following: they are on safari in Africa, they've joined the witness protection program, they have signed up to be the first astronaut on Virgin Airlines, they are participating in filming the reality show Survivor on a remote island, they are recovering from a total makeover or last but certainly not least they have gone on an expedition to the North Pole and will return after the snow melts in New England.
When you go out to meet with a new prospective client, your antenna needs to be up. You need to do more listening than talking (70% listening 30% talking). Consider the first meeting to be a blind date. You are trying to determine if you ever want to see this person again and they are doing the same.
The prospect has one thing on their agenda...can you help them. Can you help them make their problems go away? It's a two way street, however. You may decide there is not a good fit. It's your job to decide whether you want to do business with the person or group with whom you are meeting.
How do you do that, you ask? I know you have the answer to this question. In case you are not sure, here's the answer: ask powerful, impactful questions that will solicit an emotional response. The likelihood of getting truthful answers is much higher if you are getting emotional responses rather than intellectual responses.
Can the truth be shaded? Have you ever heard what we refer to as a white lie (the kind of lie that is not meant to be too harmful)? Many people shade the truth to avoid pain or they feel they will gain some sort of pleasure by not telling the truth. If you want to get to the truth, ask the tough, hard questions.
If you would like some assistance creating your list of qualifying questions to ask your prospective clients, call me at 508-845-8849.
"Questions are to sales as breath is to life. If you fail to ask them you will die. If you ask them incorrectly, your death won't be immediate but it's inevitable. If you ask them correctly, the answer is...a sale." Jeffrey Gitomer
Please call me if I can help with any business development questions.
Call toll free: 877-845-8849
