13 Dec Hear Yourself. Click to keep reading…
On one side we are asking for a meeting, asking for an opportunity, asking for an update, asking for an order, or asking for a deadline extension. On the other, we are asking for faster quotes, faster re-quotes, asking for better pricing, and asking for shorter lead times. These questions are all integral to sales, manufacturing, and just plain getting things done, but we don’t often hear ourselves saying these things. As I work through questions as part of the development process, I have realized I need to keep asking myself: what do I sound like?
I know what I’d like to hear back essentially from these questions: Yes. But yes and no questions are rarely the best type to ask when building an opportunity or a relationship with a vendor, so I want to be more aware of how I sound. Am I asking questions that engage? Am I aware of what is important to whom I am talking?
In thinking about how to improve how I sound to my listener, I found an unlikely source for thinking about how to best approach a business discussion: Dan Patrick, sportscaster. He was addressing how best to interview someone to get good answers. He said he had to learn, “How to ask the question. How to set up a question. How to put down breadcrumbs to get to the answer you want. How to ask open-ended questions. Get somebody talking and then listen to what they’re saying. The follow-up shouldn’t be scripted. Listen to what your subject is saying first, then decide what to ask.” The foundation of that approach is good preparation and application-specific knowledge. It struck me as a reminder that during my conversations, what my customers hear from me will go a long way toward improving what I hear from them.
I can think of a few times when I have not done my best, and I have a list of bad excuses to go with those examples: fatigue, fear, low potential for revenue, low potential to win, thinking instead about a different opportunity with high potential revenue and/or high potential to win. I’ve had customers who aren’t convinced that I can save them money, improve their quality or lead times, or who may also be distracted. Bad form on both sides. My customer will hear my disinterest and I will hear (and often see) theirs.
So as I prepare for the next cold call, or lunch with a long-term customer, I hope that my customers sound engaged, and I will remember to sound like I should: that I have my customers’ and my employer’s best interests at heart and that we will earn their business. I will ask good questions that are relevant to more than the next transaction and expect to hear good answers about their business, their lives, and, with good listening, their next order.–Commentary provided by Greg Hebert, Business Development
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