|
Starting a conversation that leads a prospect toward
your business is a very simple process. The key is to do it in a way that feels
natural and appropriate to the prospect.
It is important to avoid delivering a "pitch" to an
unwilling target. All good conversations are a "give and take" between two
parties where both are fully participating. When you initiate a conversation, the
other party responds. And there often is a clear signal coming from the
prospect that will tell you if and how they are ready to continue.
The conversation process
usually follows these basic steps:
1) Greet
(Build Rapport)
2) Qualify
(Discuss Needs)
3) Invite (Offer and Arrange to Present)
Each step can be done in a
few sentences or they can take months, depending on the prospect and the situation.
Give yourself permission to not advance to the next step until you receive a
clear signal from the other person that they are ready to advance.
If you advance to the next step too soon and feel the
person backing away from you, just return to the previous step and stay there until it
is comfortable again and then continue watching for signals that the time is right to
move on again.
The key is not to just learn
"what to say" or "what questions to ask" in each step, but to make sure each step is
done clearly and as thoroughly as possible (given the context) before advancing to the next one. Your goal is to connect
with and really understand
the prospect and
how your business may be able to help them.
Remember people do things because they see it as
being in their self-interest, not because you want them to. Discovering what
your prospects needs are and helping them see how you can help them can be a fun,
interesting and sometimes challenging process.
Going to the next step too
soon is the single biggest factor that messes people up and starts to make the
conversation uncomfortable. Advancing to the next step should feel logical as
part of the conversation flow.
Can you think back to
conversations you had with people where it started to feel uncomfortable or the person
you were talking with started withdrawing? Can you see which step may have been
started too soon or which step may not have been done thoroughly enough?
It just takes practice. The
great thing is how simple it is. If we do go too far too fast, all we have to do is
go back a step and do more of that.
1. GREET (Build Rapport)
The point of a greeting is to establish rapport with
someone. It is easy to strike up a conversation naturally, just by talking about
your surroundings (where you are or the weather) or the news ("did you hear the report
on...?") If you are just meeting someone, you might say "what do you do?" and
then ask questions about what they like / and what are their challenges. When
they are talking freely and openly with you, you can advance to the next step
(discussing needs).
2. QUALIFY (Discuss Needs)
When someone is talking freely and openly, they will
often mention a complaint or challenge they are having. If not, you can mention
something in the news or that you heard and ask if that is affecting them. Then
you can discuss it further and empathize with their difficulties or ask them what they
are doing about the situation. When you have learned about a challenge and
whether they are open to new possibilities, you can move to the next step (sharing
info and inviting them to learn more).
|
INVITING
PRINCIPLES
There are two facts that drive the need
to greet and qualify before offering something of value to people:
- People do business with people they
know, like and trust. There are a variety of factors that go into
building rapport. These include proximity, frequency, alignment, and
credibility. These will be covered in a more advanced training.
For now, just realize that "people
don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."
When they have a sense that you have their best interests at heart, they
will be much more willing to receive any information you have to give
them.
- People do things for their own
reasons. They don't do things because you want them to. They are
motivated by reasons that are unique to them. (Even "helping you" is
an example of a reason... their reason.)
Qualifying is really about
discovering what people's reasons are. You are finding out if they
have an interest, and if so, why. You are finding out if they don't
have an interest, and if not, why not.
Often people have a need or an interest,
and they have a variety of reasons why they are not pursuing them.
If you can discover what their reasons are (both pro and con), you can
offer them solutions in a way that is tailored to their reasons and help
them overcome any obstacles that may be standing in their way.
|
3. INVITE (Offer and Arrange to Present)
Once someone has expressed an interest or need that could be
satisfied by something you could offer them, and you've determined one or more reasons
that they have they would be interested in it, it is appropriate to offer it to them.
The best way to make such an offer is outlined below:
a) Share
Info and Verify Interest (Pique curiosity)
b) Offer (Ask them to take action)
c) Answer
questions & concerns (Handle objections)
d) Agree
on the action and schedule a follow up
3A. SHARING INFO and VERIFY INTEREST (Pique Curiosity)
If someone has expressed a need, you can share
information about what you know personally (or have heard about). The best way is to
talk about the benefits or give a testimony about someone in their situation. If
someone is interested to find out more, invite them to schedule an appointment (Step
3B).
You don't want to launch into a full description or
presentation about what you have to offer at this stage. You are simply
establishing, as part of the conversation, that you have something that could benefit
them, verifying interest and getting permission to share it with them in a way that
works best for both of you (agreeing to a time & place when they can receive the
information, such as at a presentation).
The key is to tie what you share to what you learned about them
during the "qualify" step.
3B. MAKE OFFER (Ask them to take action)
It is usually best not to launch into an unscheduled
presentation. You want to set up a situation where they can devote the necessary
attention. Scheduling an appointment for them to meet with you or come to a
meeting, etc. is usually the best way for them to learn about what we have to offer.
(You want to do it justice and make sure they have an opportunity to really "get" what
it could mean to them.)
3C. ANSWER QUESTIONS & CONCERNS
(Handle Objections)
If a prospect has questions and concerns about your
invitation, it is up to you to handle those questions and concerns so that they are no
longer an issue for the prospect. Sometimes the issues are expressed openly and directly,
and sometimes they are hidden. If the prospect is not agreeing to take the action
you have suggested, there IS a concern of some kind.
Your job is to align with
the prospect to help them solve their issue satisfactorily from their point of
view so they can move forward and get what they want (the solution to their problem).
Prospect issues with time and money are typically a problem of
them not seeing sufficient value in what you are offering (your offering is in competition
with their existing concerns) and you may need to help someone see that your invitation can be
a higher value to them than what is currently on their plate.
Prospect issues may also be a lack of knowledge, understanding or
perception. In these cases, you can educate people to remove those obstacles.
The most common concerns & objections include:
-
Not Interested
-
Selling
-
Price (Money)
-
Time
-
Friends & Family
-
What is it?
-
Isn't that like...?
Click on the links above for information on how to
handle these concerns.
Handling objections means that you've successfully helped
the prospect answer their own questions and
concerns and come to the understanding that they can benefit more by taking the action you've offered than by not taking the action.
3D. AGREE ON THE ACTION AND
SCHEDULE FOLLOW UP
Confirm agreement regarding the action discussed - what
and when something will be done and by whom.
It is always a great idea to have both parties agree
to which actions will be taken by the other and to confirm a follow up date and
time.
|
