WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM?

We all have similar goals for having a business.. making a living, doing something we love, having more freedom, making more money for a better lifestyle, taking a vacation whenever we want, having more time for family, etc. These are important goals to have, however, when you are talking to potential clients and referral partners, you have to remember that it’s not all about you. It is as much, if not more about them, meaning what your potential clients want. As consumers, we all have countless options for product and service providers. Just because a particular person wants us to hire them, it doesn’t mean we have to or we will choose to.  We want to know more about the person and/or the company, what is their education, experience, expertise, customer service history, etc. are. We also want to see if the person understands us and connects with us and if we like interacting with him/her. If all of those things line up and the price is right, we will hire them/ buy from them.

In other words, if they fulfill the 3 main reasons we buy from/hire others, i.e. we feel we KNOW, LIKE and TRUST them, we will buy from/hire them.

For example, let’s say that you are looking to buy a vehicle. You go to the dealership and you are greeted by a friendly guy. He seems very nice and passionate about the vehicles for sale at his dealership. You then notice that he doesn’t ask much about you, and instead spends most of the time talking about himself and why he likes certain vehicles and not others and why you would or wouldn’t like certain vehicles, assuming your tastes would match his. He also tells you how great of a salesperson he is and how lucky you are to have come in when he was working, or else you wouldn’t have gotten such good service. When you mention that you don’t like some things about one of the vehicles he said he likes and you do like some things about the vehicles he says he doesn’t like, he just says, “I know it may seem that way, but, trust me, you want this one, and you definitely don’t want that one.”

The chances of you buying anything from that guy is slim to none. He didn’t bother to get to know you and learn in detail what you are looking for. He didn’t listen to you when you said what you liked and didn’t like about the vehicles he showed you. He didn’t try to get to know you as a person at all and was a braggart.

You walk into another car dealership and you are also greeted by a friendly guy, but, this time he sits down with you and goes through a checklist of all of the main things people consider when buying a vehicle and checks off the things you say are most important to you, including your budget, and notes the things that aren’t as important, but, would be nice to have. He also asks you if are you from around there? Do you have any kids or pets? How much time do you spend driving in a week? What kind of driving do you usually do?  How do you want to feel when you are driving the vehicle? etc. Then, he shows you only the vehicles that match what you are looking for. He has you sit inside the vehicles and asks you what you think of each one. He expresses that he understands what you are saying and uses that information to help you narrow down which vehicle would be best for you.

How does the second guy compare to the first guy? If it was me interacting with these sales people, I would definitely go with the second guy. He really showed he cared about me personally and about my specific needs and goals with a vehicle, and we started to build a relationship, even though it might be short-lived. His caring and detailed nature made me like him and trust him. Even if I don’t know him personally, I am familiar with the brand of the vehicle dealership and I got a sense of who he is through our conversation, even those I didn’t ask him any personal questions about himself.

I felt like I knew (the dealership and him a bit), liked and trusted him, and I liked one of the vehicles, so I bought the vehicle from him/that dealership.

When someone is inquiring about your products or services, are you more like the first guy or the second guy? Do you spend more time getting to know the prospects or more time talking about yourself and how great you are? Next time you attend a business networking event or a prospect meeting, pay attention to the balance in speaking and listening time. Pay attention to the facial expressions and other body language the prospects express so you can see how they are feeling and thinking about the interaction. If you talk too long you will likely see them look away from you, maybe look down at their phone, their watch or at a clock or otherwise look like they feel uncomfortable, bored or worse. If you notice that, stop yourself and ask about them. Better yet, don’t wait for the person to get that look on their face. Focus more of your time learning about them, then if what you offer matches what they need and/or want, explain what you offer and HOW IT CAN BENEFIT THEM.

This means not just describing what you do and the features, example,

• I am an accountant.
• My team and I can do all of your bookkeeping,
• HST returns and,
• and your corporate tax return.

but, also saying the benefits, example,

• I am an accountant.
• My team and I can do all of your bookkeeping and have it done right SO you know exactly where you stand financially at the end of every month, you can make better decisions about the direction of your business, you can feel in full control of your business, and you don’t have to spend the time to do it yourself.
• We would also compile and file all of your HST returns accurately and on time SO you stay compliant with government requirements and you keep the right amount of money in your pocket; and
• We will also prepare your corporate tax returns making sure they are accurate SO you can feel confident about your filings, and pay the least amount of tax allowed for your situation.

I wish you all the success with your business. If you would like some 1-1 help to improve prospecting skills, book a free video consultation where we can discuss my business coaching services. Here’s the link: