I was taking a young consultant on a sales call and I warned him that my opening statement would probably shock him a little and to be prepared...
ME: HI TOM, I MENTIONED I'D BE INVITING CHRIS FROM OUR TEAM (they shake, we sit)
TOM: Great...so tell me a bit about your firm
ME: I'D LOVE TO...HOWEVER, FIRST OF ALL, I WANT YOU TO KNOW WE APPRECIATE YOU INVESTING THE TIME TO MEET WITH US...AND I'D LIKE TO START BY ASKING WHY...WHY DID YOU SAY YES TO THIS MEETING?
Tom: Umm...good question...well I was talking with Jack S. And he mentioned you all had worked with his team, and said he saw some success, so I thought I'd check it out
ME: INTERESTING...
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The call went great from there...and when we got back in the car, Chris asked if I always started calls asking "why are we here?". And I said absolutely, mainly because I have no idea, and I don't want to assume anything.
I see myself as a doctor, and that's what doctors do when the patient arrives...even if they've seen the notes, talked to the intake nurse, etc....they still say "So what's going on, why are we here today?" It's a bonding thing. It's a putting the patient first thing. It's a developing a trusting relationship thing.
Managers, what do you teach your people to do at the beginning of a sales call, beyond break the ice?
(Additional comments from Greg)
An Interesting thing about this concept, whenever I’ve introduced it in a workshop or keynote talk, I always get a few people who will say, “I could NEVER do that…I mean, don’t you know why you’re there?”…
And I say, of course I know why I’m there, but why is the client there? The client is all that matters. You’ll also notice that I don’t say, “Why am I here?”, like I’ve got a concussion and not sure where I am…but it’s WHY DID YOU SAY YES TO THIS MEETING.
In the thousands of times I’ve done it, I’ve never been yelled at, or escorted out of the office…none of that. I get everything from, “I’m just curious about what you do..” to “I’ve got a situation going on you might be able to help us with.” Those will lead to two very different meetings.
I WILL say that several people have said, “Hmmm…that’s a great question, I appreciate you asking” or “No one has ever asked me that.”
That’s cool, I’m not like any other seller…client first baby!
