One of the most impactful books, I have read is Dale Carnegie’s – How to Win Friends and Influence People. What really made my catch my breath was the fact that Dale lived and wrote in a time where things were far different (born in 1888) however what he said still applies and perhaps even more so. The insights he had seems almost timeless.
A business can only really come into being when there are clients and the longer you are without clients or enough clients the more focused you become on trying to be the most efficient with your time, see the most number of people, focus on what you are selling and try to close the deal. Self-doubt might even start to creep in. Customers will notice this no matter how much you try to hide it.
So what works then? Well the more counter intuitive approach – slowing down, spend more time with your potential customer and become interested in them and what they need. When people feel heard and connected with you – I can’t stress enough here that it has to be authentic – things come together far quicker.
You don’t have to believe me or Dale or even the stories he refers to in his book of how successful his clients were by using that same approach to the point where business deals that they had been trying to get for years came together only when they stopped trying to get the deal and became genuinely interested in the person in front of them. Just try it out for yourself and see.
I am not saying that you should move to the extreme (from discussing a sale to never discussing it) – rather I am asking you to pause a moment and think about your sales – past and potential and reflect if there is something there that you can do differently to engage with the person and not only what they can do for you that could result in future business.
Wishing you many more customers!