A funny thing can happen in the mind of a potential client during their initial consultation with you.
They have a problem and need your help to solve it, but somewhere along the way they may think you’re taking them down a path for your purposes of bringing them on as a new client.
This subtle shift in how they feel about the direction of the conversation, can pull them back from trusting you.
What shifts their thinking like this, and how do you as an advisor, prevent your sales process from being derailed by it?
You may have heard the old cliched piece of sales advice of “don’t lose them while you have them, otherwise you’ll be stuck chasing them”, as taught by the traditional sales gurus.
This old adage can position you as someone wanting or even needing, your prospect’s business.
This can flip their perception of you as an authority and make them think “he or she, as helpful as they are, is trying to steer me towards being a paying client”, which creates doubt about your credibility, and triggers the old “sales game”.
When this happens, you get pulled into chasing, which ultimately leads to a long and unprofitable sales cycle and the feeling of being “strung along”.
The secret to avoiding falling down this rabbit hole is to let go of the sale in your mind.
Letting go of the sale simply means being genuinely comfortable with waiting for your prospect to take the next step in the conversation, and doing nothing to intervene until they do.
Because your only goal in an initial conversation is to listen to your prospect’s problem, expand their awareness and understanding of it, and discover whether it’s a priority for them to solve it.
To authentically let go of the sale, you must intimately understand how following your process, staying in your frame, and maintaining your position as an authority, is more valuable than making the sale.
You must remember that the moment you deviate from it, you enter your prospect’s frame rather than patiently waiting for them to enter yours.
Resist the desire to seek “closure” from them.
Instead, calmly say “that’s not a problem, I understand”.
One of two things will happen.
You’ll get to the truth that solving their problem isn’t a priority, which will let you disengage with confidence.
Or, you’ll shift their focus back to their problem and underscore that your only intention is to help them see a path to solving their issues.
Either way, you’ll avoid your potential clients pulling back from working with you, saving you valuable time, ultimately allowing you to bring on more paying clients.