Remember that Momentum Gap? The gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it? I’ve helped many salespeople and leaders over the years bridge that gap. There are some core areas where people get stuck, and today we are going to give you one strategy for overcoming one of these hurdles. That hurdle is fear of no.
I am going to give you a process that when you:
- Use it
- Learn from the rejections
- Adjust/level up where appropriate
- Inject your own personality and style
You won’t be concerned with rejection anymore. Why?
Well, when you dial this in, any rejection will mean that it isn’t the right timing, it isn’t the right client or outcome, and it’s OK that it doesn’t come together. It may not seem like it in the moment, but you will evolve and bigger and better opportunities will appear. If you are committed to working hard.
How will it be OK? Because you brought your absolute BEST and not all outcomes work out. It is when you don’t bring your best that is what kills sales careers. So, let’s get to BEST and fast. An overview of this process, that works for all types of meetings, especially in sales.
- Preparation: Know your topic/audience and prepare great questions to ask them.
- Energy: BRING IT. The most important traits in this regard are confidence, gratitude, and empathy.
- Connection: Listen and care about the answers to your questions. Ask follow-up questions to gain clarity.
- Value: What’s in it for them? What makes your offering different? What options can you create to solve their challenge?
- Commitment: Agree to move forward with an agreement or plan a follow-up conversation.
- Expectations: Get clear on what happens next. Answer when applicable who/what/when/where/why/and how.
- Persistence: This can be a good trait in sales when handled professionally. You don’t want to come off as pushy, though.
As you progress through the sales cycle, it may be necessary to return to step one and assess whether you need to make adjustments.
Let’s Break It Down
Now, let’s break this process down using a real job-seeking example. This way, you can see the process at play in other areas of life.
When I moved to Jacksonville in 2014, friends of my family connected me to interview as a broker at a flagship office for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty. I had no idea at the time that this was the beginning of a ten-year journey that would culminate in my being CEO of the company. I do believe that the beginning of a relationship is important, and I took our initial conversations and meetings very seriously. Here’s how I approached this interview using the seven steps above.
Preparation
This part is fairly straightforward. I reviewed the company website and news, studied the local real estate market, learned about the key people at the company, met with people familiar with the company to ask questions, and prepared a list of my own questions—thoughtful questions—that I meant to ask during the interview. This step gave me a higher level of confidence walking through the door.
Energy
This is the part that makes or breaks the first impression. You definitely want to read the room. Not all people are attracted to high charisma and someone who is super talkative. In my experience, a beneficial approach to all meetings typically includes a combination of confidence in self, gratitude for the meeting, and empathy for the challenges the other person is facing. This is exactly the energy I brought to my interview. This step helped set us all at ease and prepared us for the next phase.
Connection
Remember the work we did in the preparation phase? Now is the time to put it to work. Ask questions. When appropriate, start with some non-work-related questions to break the ice. Care about the answers. Ask follow-up questions based on the responses. Take notes. Lean in and maintain eye contact. Confirm your understanding when appropriate. For this meeting, I had really good questions about the real estate market, the culture of the company, their perceived strengths and weaknesses, what their key challenges were, what I could do to help, the backgrounds of the people, and the history of the company. I already knew some of these answers from the website, but I knew it was valuable to hear it all straight from the source. This step helped us gain mutual likeability.
Value
Quite frankly—and I’ve seen this happen over and over again in all the hiring I’ve done—if the previous steps are handled appropriately, this doesn’t become a sales job. This is now a mutual conversation about how we can work together and what value we bring to the table. That is exactly what happened in this interview. We got along so well that it seemed almost certain we would end up working together.
I did take some time, however, to build value. I did this by describing how my experience would help the office and company grow. I shared what I believed were unique attributes of my personality and my approach to sales and leadership. I shared some of the extracurricular activities I was involved in that had helped increase my skills and abilities. I shared with them my vision for what this office would grow to become and the culture I would create there. Everything I shared was essentially an answer to the challenges they’d described while outlining the position. This step helps differentiate you from others and may increase your compensation.
Commitment
This didn’t happen on the spot, although I was told an offer would be made. It’s always good to agree to, at the end of the meeting, whether we are moving forward or not. And if there are other options to consider, the protocol for following up should be specified. This step builds clarity.
Expectations: Once the agreement is made, it’s time to cover the who/what/when/where/how and why of what happens next. In this example, we discussed the onboarding process, with whom I would be meeting, the topics we would discuss, timing for my introduction to the office, and what materials I would need to study in advance. It was all laid out beautifully. This step minimizes surprises and disappointment.
Persistence
This step was not necessary in the example I’m using. The flow took us quickly to an agreement. I will tell you, though, that there is nothing wrong with being persistent until you get a yes or a no. But you must be professional and respectful in your persistence.
How does this hit for you? Do you have a meeting coming up in which these steps would make a difference? Or maybe you have a committee or board meeting that you feel you can make a bigger impact on. Well, these steps can be applied to just about any meeting—and you will notice a big difference.
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