Convince me

14th June 2012

Have you ever turned up at a meeting, and the first thing your prospective client says is “I have to be honest, I’m not sure I really need your product/service, but just thought it might be interesting to talk to you”, or words to that effect?

My reaction used to be, “Well thanks for wasting my time and money”, but actually I now realise it is quite a strong buying sign. Essentially they are putting up their defenses just in case they decide that I genuinely do not have anything they could want (or that they may deem to be too expensive in their current cash flow situation), but in reality they wouldn’t want to be wasting their own time, so what they are really saying is “Go ahead and convince me”.

It certainly is a challenge to start from this point, but treat it as an opportunity, and learn how to get around it. For me, I now see it rather like a line of defenses, and I have to probe for a way through. So it is a matter of asking lots of questions. As soon as you can feel the “line of attack” being closed off, back off, and find another way. In the end there will nearly always be something that interests them, and once you have identified that, then you can concentrate on that aspect until you get their business.

Sometimes it can take a while, but you will know when you have hit the right button, as their body language changes, and suddenly the person who knew all the answers is starting to be less sure of themselves, and starts asking questions back. The whole dynamic of the meeting will change, and that is the time to ask for their business.

It can take a while to learn this, but provided you know your product/service well, and you are well prepared with your questions, then more often than not you can overcome what initially may appear as an insurmountable challenge.

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