If you want to help people, do you purposely avoid mentioning what you do in your business when you meet someone for the first time?
I say this because people often try to sell me a few minutes after the introduction, maybe this has happened to you too?
What if I could teach you a simple way to help people who are interested in your products and want to buy.
And make sure that the people who are not interested in what you have to sell don’t feel sold to.
Would that be of interest to you?
While the idea is simple enough, it does require a slight shift in your thought process and that may be difficult for some.
After talking about the weather, the conversation generally continues with…”What do you do?”
How do you usually answer this seemingly innocent question?
Most people I run across answer with their job description. “I’m a truck driver, a short order cook, I sell used cars” etc.
The best one I ever heard was “I’m a no-load dipshit asshole just counting the days until I can retire.”
Sometimes this is usually the end of any more conversations.
But, when you first meet someone, there is a possibility that they may be a potential customer or they may know a potential customer.
Unfortunately, many fail to discover this because we don’t talk about business, or because we feel uncomfortable about “selling.”
The another response I sometimes hear reminds me of a elevator pitch and I really hate it.
If I ask “what do you do” and get a thirty second sales pitch, I spend the last few seconds looking for an out. I hate being sold to! And if I hate it, I’m sure it’s the same for other people too!
I’ve learned how to invite people to talk about our business in such a way that they do not feel we are trying to sell them something.
It’s really simple, I just talk about how I can help people.
Of course, I have different responses depending on who I am talking with.
- I help small business owners to attract more customers, improving their bottom line.
- I’m focused on helping new marketers to become entrepreneurs.
And I finish with “Do you know anyone that might be interested?”
Now if you are a small business owner or a new internet marketer, would you want to know more if I said that?
Of course you would. Some people respond immediately asking for more information indicating that they would like my help.
With no response, then they are not interested.
If they are interested then I can arrange a couple of scenarios:
- Let me have your card and I’ll call you in the week to arrange a meeting.
- Here’s my card, Take a look at my website.
- There’s some free training (in exchange for your email address) that can help you.
You can create your own responses, for example:
I specialize in helping:
- Describe your target customers.
- Who you want to do business with.
- A niche that includes the person you are speaking to.
Another tip is to tailor your response so it is most applicable to the person you are speaking to.
Just get into the habit of asking people what they do first and don’t let a conversation die when they give you their job description.
Get them to talk about what they do and the problems they face in doing it, especially the problems that you can solve.
People love to talk about themselves and they love people who listen. Then they almost always ask, “What do you do?”
Well I focus on how I can help people…
If you just spent a few minutes showing an interest in them and what they do, then told them that you can help solve some of their problems they face, don’t you think they are going to want to know more?
