Where many marketing conversations get off-track are the ones you have
with yourself, before you even pick up the phone or initiate the
handshake. As independent professionals, usually at the helm of solo
businesses, we sometimes find ourselves facing daunting internal obstacles
as we try to begin our day’s marketing activity. With no one in our
office-of-one to help with a confidence booster, an important resource to
have in our self-management toolbox is a means of submitting the negative
self-talk for an internal Second Opinion.
Let’s imagine you’re about to pick up the phone to follow up on a
promising contact you met a few days ago. You recognize that the clammy
hands gripping the phone are a sure sign that Fear of Rejection is in
charge. You’ve convinced yourself that the voice about to answer your call
is just waiting for an excuse, any excuse, to hang up. What to do? Time
for a Second Opinion!
The Department of Second Opinions draws on that part of yourself that
knows enough to question the self-defeating voices by asking, “How real is
this?” Buttressing its wisdom is the recognition that a conversation
underlies every marketing activity as sub-text, a conversation that’s
usually unspoken. While we may tend to think of marketing as telling
people what we do, in fact all our marketing activities implicitly ask a
question: “Do my services have potential value to you?” When Fear of
Rejection is in charge, the door slams shut on any potential conversation.
“Do my services have value?” “No!” End of conversation. But what if you
stay in the (unspoken) conversation and wonder, “What are they actually
saying no to, and why?” They could be saying no to having the conversation
now, or to a perceived misfit between their needs and your services, or
even to the person they couldn’t say no to 10 minutes earlier!
Viewed in this light, the imagined door slamming shut in your face
shifts to a swinging door. Even if it shuts, you’re likely to come away
with useful information about the needs of this prospect, or about how to
better position your services for your target client. Even if it shuts on
him or her as a prospect, you’ve gotten the word out to one more person
about your services.
Another conversation stopper, particularly seductive for service
professionals: “I Can’t Sell Myself”. This one actually negates any
conversation from the outset, presuming instead that rather than talking,
you have to convince or even manipulate the prospect. A Second Opinion
might point to a more promising line of inquiry such as: How do I quickly
and accurately inform myself about my prospect’s needs and present my
services as an effective solution?
Shifting the internal voices – abandoning the conversation-stoppers or
door-slammers and instead framing a question - gives you a good chance of
getting off on positive footing for the actual conversation. It’s very
helpful to remember that even if the prospect says no, this doesn’t have
to be your last opportunity. When you relax into the conversation, into
listening and asking as well as telling, you may hear an interest or need
that has no direct connection to your services but provides a basis for
staying in touch. This will indeed have been a successful marketing
conversation! Good luck.
Nina Ham, certified coach and licensed psychotherapist, is
principal of Success from the Inside Out, providing individual coaching and
teleseminars to build the skills, attitudes and habits for sustainable success
in your career or business. Mail to:
Nina@womenssuccesscoach.com or
visit
http://www.SuccessfromtheInsideOut.com.
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