A new potential client is referred to you or comes inbound from another source.
Something triggers inside you when that meeting approaches, I call it “hopeium”.
It’s a “drug” that runs through your mind and body that automatically triggers assumptions about the intentions of your prospect.
Here are some of those assumptions:
– They’ll be making a decision to solve their problem (“Why else would they be meeting with me?”)
– They want to be educated around potential solutions to their problems (“This allows me to show/prove my value”)
– They’re on a “shopping trip” to select an advisor (“I better over-deliver so that I add more value than the next advisor they meet with”)
Those assumptions create actions in your mind that prepare you for what you believe their intentions are.
But what if those intentions are wrong.
What if those projected intentions are what they want you to believe, so you adapt to what they think they want?
What if they themselves, don’t really, understand what they actually need?
When a prospect comes inbound, it’s easy to assume they know what they want, understand what they need, and recognize you as the one for them.
We feel wanted, relevant and appreciated…. hopeium fills our veins… so we start delivering value, some free consulting and education to show them their shopping trip should end with you.
Here’s the antidote to hopeium:
Your prospect thinks they know what they want, but you know, through your years of experience, it often is not the full picture and they often don’t know what they actually need!
Your job is not to allow your prospect to determine the path they believe they need to solve their issues.
Doctors don’t allow their patients to dictate what they think they need.
You need to be trusted at such a deep level, on the first meeting, that they relinquish control, by acknowledging you’re the expert, not them.
As an expert, you’re not there to sell anything.
You’re there to diagnose their problems and assess whether or not you can help them.
When you’re the advisor who can do this with insight and empathy, you don’t ever have to hear: “I want to think about it.”
Instead, they should say: “You’re the one, how do we get started?”.
To learn more about this unique mindset shift and trust-building approach, order your complimentary book and consultation below.