Last week I met with a financial services manager, Pat, who was telling me about how he had grown his business. Within a few minutes I was taking notes because early on he said that one of the key things to teach new sales people is non-neediness.
I thought to myself: what a great idea! The challenge most of the time is you need new business to grow. The irony is people are turned off by what you NEED (any whiff of neediness) and are MUCH MORE likely to do business with you when WHO YOU ARE is a consultant, an advisor, and a resource to this person rather than you being a sales person.
Consider this week’s article an idea exchange. I am not saying I would necessarily recommend doing all of these things unless they resonate with you. And these strategies worked as a whole because they were congruent with who Pat saw himself to be.
1. Meeting people and business is about OPENING relationships not CLOSING sales
I recognize we all want to do more business (I am not independently wealthy!) but Pat’s successful belief was that we’re all in the relationship business. You can open relationships any time, develop them and often they will turn into business. But you can’t just meet a bunch of people and expect them all to become closed sales in the short term.
And I know you don’t expect that. But that’s usually how most sales people act and think even without being conscious of it. And you may still need to ASK others for their business. Try this a few times – it works really well: “It would be silly of me not to mention that I work with people in your situation all the time. I’d be happy to get together for coffee some time and explain what I mean.”
But the ‘opening’ mindset is one that gives people a chance to get comfortable with you. And think about your best clients. Did they instantly do business with you the first time they heard about you or met you? Or did it take some time? You wouldn’t get in a serious personal relationship on the spot.
Bottom Line: you’re not needy. Fake it on the days you are!
2. Ask people to fire you if you don’t keep your promises
Pat told his clients that they could expect to meet with him a certain number of times per year. If he failed to set up one of these meetings, he asked his client to call him and give him one warning.
If he made this mistake twice, he would say: “I want you to fire me because you deserve better than that.”
What I love about this idea is the confidence it speaks and the back-handed compliment it pays to the prospect. And it’s not as though everyone will take you up on this!
3. Suggest to COIs (centers of influence) and clients that you don’t want all their referrals
When training COIs how to recommend him, he asked them to endorse two other people who did what he did. Why?
“I’m not going to take all your referrals because I only want to work with people I like - and what if I don’t really like the person you refer to me?” So he would explain carefully his ideal client.
This too is a message of confidence that likely reassured the more sales-averse COI (attorney or accountant). He was not needy. Also, HE liked to recommend three professionals and give his client a choice; it allowed him to advocate for multiple professionals. He is the first person I’ve met who had good results doing this approach, so I would suggest thinking hard about doing this.
Bottom Line: sending the message that you like to help people but you don’t want to just work with anyone.
4. Request critical feedback
When asking for feedback on areas he could improve, Pat would remind them that part of his role as an advisor was to point out things they might not want to hear but that were in their best interests. Then he would say:
“If you’re out with your spouse and notice a spot of mayonnaise on their cheek, you tell them about it. I want you to do the same with me because you deserve to get the best possible service. I can only get better if things are pointed out to me that I am not noticing. And you’re not going to recommend somebody you care about to me unless it is clear I pay attention to the details.”
I like the subtle referral mention at the end too. My wariness here is that after this feedback, it seems a less optimal time to then request referrals because you have your client focusing on what’s not working as well. You can’t very well then transition to saying: “Well do you think there are any other vice presidents at your company who would like to meet with me given that I am sometimes slow to return your calls?!”
Of course, if the area to improve is frequently trivial, then it can work in your favor. And if it’s something big, you haven’t earned the right to ask for a referral.
All of these ideas resonate with CONFIDENCE. What do you do in your business that shows such inner-security?
Please forward this onto someone important in your business life.