If you want to attract and close deals with first rate customers, you need to be highly skilled at controlling and directing conversations. Not in a stifling way, but in a way that exhilarates your prospect. A way that leaves them feeling free, understood, and hopeful because of the new possibilities you helped them see for themselves.
“Robert,” who is currently enrolled in my “12 Weeks to Your Ultimate Selling System” one-on-one coaching program, recently had some frustrating conversations with a few active customers.
It turns out that Robert’s combination of outsourced products and services had done such a good job that:
“All my clients now talk about, ‘Geez, I really need a full time person, Robert. I need somebody in my office.’
“They don’t need anyone in their office, but that’s what they’re thinking…”
Hiring someone full time would make Robert unnecessary. So I asked Robert how he responds.
“I say, ‘Really! You haven’t even maximized this, and now you think you need a full timer, which is $80,000+ in salary, and that’s not including all the technological infrastructure…'”
Oooops. That’s not gonna do it!
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Here’s the simple secret for controlling and directing conversations:
You need see beyond what your customer SAYS to what she really MEANS.
So Robert’s customer SAYS
“Your XYZ has proven so important, that we need someone in-house to run it going forward. And since you can’t be here yourself, we may need to find someone who can…“
BUT, what Robert’s customer MEANS is
“I can see how valuable this is. And we’re only just scratching the surface. And that’s the problem! I don’t like the feeling of not getting all I can from this.
“Help me figure out how we can get even better results with you so that I’m not tempted to look elsewhere!”
If Robert responds to what his customer SAYS, he’ll talk about how his company’s solution is really much cheaper than someone in house. And about how it doesn’t pay for them to invest in all the infrastructure. And about how if the customer would do just a bit more of what Robert was telling her, she would see that there’s no need for someone in house.
But none of this answers the customers REAL frustration, what she MEANT.
Here’s how you respond to what the customer MEANT:
“Customer, this is what I live for! I love when someone gets it like you do. You’re so pleased with the results so far, and frustrated with your inability to really maximize your results, that you want to explore ways that we can help you more easily get the full benefit that my products can bring to you, isn’t that right?”
If you have a good relationship, and you did correctly hear what your customer really wants, this kind of sentence will make your customer FEEL GREAT because you’ve just articulated what she really wants far better than she could ever do it herself.
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POP QUIZ FOR MY REGULAR READERS: There is a simple “structure” lying beneath what Robert’s customers have been telling him. Robert didn’t see it, so he almost broke himself over it. I did see it, and therefore I was able to formulate a powerful reply.
What’s the structure? Post your thoughts with an explanation in the comments section below.
