The Client Letter
August 9, 2013
The Desert of Arizona
Sunny 58 Degrees
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There’s an interesting side effect of showing up in front of a prospect truly indifferent to whether or not they hire you.
When you can approach things with that feeling in your gut, you’re able to see and think of things that otherwise would not be apparent to you.
That’s because you have no set destination that blinds you to other possibilities. You’re simply IN THE MOMENT and responding to things as they come.
For example, a compliance seeking, approval seeking service provider, when asked by a prospect to “Tell me what you can do for me…” will most likely do their level best to answer the question.
But a service provider who truly doesn’t care which way a selling situation goes would never answer a question like that.
(NOTE: Never answer a question like that.)
In fact, when you show up “indifferent,” it’s kind of a stupid question to be asked. Because it really reveals the perception your prospect has of people like you. Bad move on their part.
Instead of answering questions like that, you should be the one asking the question.
Here’s how it goes:
“Mr. Prospect, I have a question for you… what makes you think I’m the right person to do this project with you?”
Then you close your mouth and do whatever it takes to KEEP it closed. Because most likely, you’re going to have to endure the silence and the look on your prospect’s face as he wonders what kind of idiot who’s trying to sell himself would EVER ask a dumb question like that. (You’ll get to enjoy it eventually.)
One possible response he’ll give is: “Well, we were hoping that YOU would tell us that…”
To which you can calmly reply…
“Well, I just want to make sure that there’s a good fit between the goal you’re trying to achieve, and the services I provide. So talk more about that… what makes you think I’m the right person to do this project with you?”
When you have nothing to fear, nowhere to go and nothing to “get,” you have the power. You have it right now. You just have to use it. You can use that power, not to manipulate, but simply to get the truth about whether there is a good fit or not.
How do you get the truth? You just ask for it.
The system has trained us to fear the asking. The system has trained us to willingly give our power to whoever we perceive is the authority.
No more.
Questions are power. And if you’d like to see how you can use them on a daily basis in your business, you’ll find help here.