In which we learn to ask questions about four business drivers to understand our clients’ businesses.
As your clients are reviewing their plans and budgets for the year…. now’s the time to raise the level of your conversations with them to a level above “we’d really like the opportunity to work with you.”
All business managers work on four major issues, no matter what business they’re in:
In which we learn to ask about “internal issues” that buyers may not tell us about.
Airport bound last Tuesday, I stopped briefly at my office. Starting down the basement stairs, I noticed … water…ankle deep… lapping gently around now saturated boxes of financial records, project deliverables, and family heirlooms. Silent scream …. I left for the airport, cell phone blazing, calling the building manager for help.
In which we are reminded to clean up distracting physical habits.
I frowned. Multiple times, I guess. Afterwards, a few of the people in the meeting I was leading commented, “When I asked questions, Nick frowned. I felt like I was asking dumb questions.”
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In which we’re encouraged to acknowledge our clients’ stories so they’re sure we’ve heard them.
As last week came to Friday, many conversations ended with the suggestion, “Have a happy Easter.” Several of us announced that we were headed to dinner tables set by our mothers or mothers in law. Celtic Grammas, it turns out, first or second-generation immigrants from Ireland or Scotland.
In which we’re encouraged to ask enough questions to understand whether our prescribed solution to a client’s problem will really work in the client’s environment.
Watching classroom sales training role-plays is a little like watching football teams practice without pads… Low intensity. Move through the motions. Nobody trying too hard to take anyone else out. Still, an observer can get a general sense of the team. Essential tendencies shine through.
So, as I was watching and coaching this particular set of “pad-free practice role-plays,” I saw an essential tendency. As the “sellers” in the role plays heard a bit of information that suggested a potential need for a product, they would say, almost reflexively, “if I could show you a way to…” (I gag every time I hear that) or “we have a product that would help you….”
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