HOW IS IT GOING? Well, – go on, – just how is it going? Let’s be clear, I don’t need to know your answer to the question. The reason I don’t need to know, is that you are sitting at your desk running your business and I’m sitting at my desk, running mine – i.e., I can’t see you!
But – what if I could see you? Well, to be honest, if I could, there is a sporting chance that I would be able to tell whether you are doing well, or whether, like many, you are struggling in a market where cutbacks are now common place. On the other hand, I might detect that you are in fact doing rather well!
Why am I telling you this? Well, we gets loads of ‘coaching tips’, some of them work whilst some evidently don’t. Perhaps you are fed up with those that don’t, so here’s one that works for all of us.
In short, if you go to see a prospect with a look on your face, and a general demeanour that says you have just dropped your last pound down a drain, guess what? Your prospect will probably detect that instantly! You will go on, no doubt, and tell the guy that you want his business, and quite right too. However, your prospect will read that as ‘I desperately need your business!’ Is it likely that you will sign up his business? You answer that one!
In Pharos we use a model. Feedback tells us that it’s one of the most self-sustaining models in our toolkit. It is rather aptly named the SOS model – so very easy to remember. It is particularly relevant to prospect meetings, presentations etc and will make a massive difference to your conversion rate, if used correctly.
S is for ‘State’ – your state, both physical as well as mental. Do you look the person you want to be recognised as? Do you look professional, knowledgeable, and approachable? Does your choice of suit blend with the dress code of the potential client? That’s the relatively easy bit; but what about your mental state? Is it all gloom and despondency, a furrowed brow, a slight stoop, shuffling of feet etc? In short, does your body language reflect the possibility that you desperately need, rather than want his business?
In coaching, we refer to “acting as if’”. Acting as if we are extremely successful, happy, fulfilled, passionate and dynamic business people, sales people or whatever we are! What change could we make that would enable us to do that more easily? Well, it’s not that difficult – just concentrate on all that you have, rather than all that you would like. And if it’s difficult to get your head around that, think of the orphan children in the ghettos of India who spend all day and most of the night rummaging on the city rubbish tips trying to find something they could exchange for a crust of bread!
Think of the abundance of wealth – yes, wealth in which each of us sits. Think of the achievements we have accomplished in our lifetime. Think of the happy memories – maybe our wedding day, or the birth of our children, their ‘growing up’ the celebrations etc. Then take all that bounty into your head, your heart and your soul – and live the life that it all represents. Then you will be seen as someone who wants business, using the fantastic experiences we all have had in the business world, and the superb product or service we sell,. Never again, will you be seen as someone who desperately needs business!
So, I have told you what the “S” was for. The “O” is for ‘outcome’ – what is the very minimum that I want/expect from this meeting – fix that in your mind and stick to it. The final “S” is for strategy – how will you achieve the outcome, what will you say, how will you price etc??
I have summarised the middle “O” and the last “S” because research tells us that our state delivers no less than 75% of the chance of our success, whilst the remaining 25% relates to the strategy.
So, if we are only concentrating on our sales strategy, is it really any wonder that we are disappointed with our client portfolio? Well, now add the 75% and see what a difference it makes!
Rod Higginbotham is an accredited business coach, who specialises in coaching business owners and corporate executives in the improvement of their personal performance and consequently the performance of their companies.
