Waking Up to Find ‘dem Leads
I tend to ask a lot of questions during my meeting with clients. It's not immediately obvious to my clients the amount of information that is transferred during these talks. The power of questions is awesome. Most of all, it's really neat how simple conversation can bring about some very entertaining growth experiences.
I was with a client the other day when he asked me how he could get more leads. I said to him I'd love to get that discussion going but before we did, I wanted a few questions answered. He said okay but afterwards he really wanted to know how he could get more leads. I said I agreed and if he'd just be patient we'd get to it.
With a nod from my client, I proceeded to ask him what he enjoyed most about his office environment. He said he enjoyed the amount of support he got from his coworkers. I asked him how many other financial professionals worked in his office. He said fifteen. I asked him of the fifteen, how many would he say actually had a business plan. The response was about half. My next question pointed toward those that have a plan and inquired how many are actually working it. He said about half of them.
I responded, great! you wanted to know how to get more leads. He said absolutely and that he wished that I would stop asking so many question and get to it. He wanted to know how to get more leads and he was tired of waiting for these questions to end.
I said to him the key is right before him but he did not see it and that he needed to listen more carefully to conversations. Ours in particular. I said to him that I was just told by him that he knew of fifteen other professionals in his office who could use varied forms of coaching support. The people without plans could use me to get a business plan. The people with plans that were not working it could use coaching support to get them back on track. The others who were left could use coaching support to increase production or improve their return on investment.
Silence...
He smirked and put his chin into his chest and started to snicker. That was soooo easy I didn't even see it coming he commented. Wow!
To Review:
- Find an area of questioning that will bring about a response that you already know would bring about leads. This requires some knowledge of the person's background. I knew that the client had co-workers. Other areas that can be focused on are affiliations outside work such as organizations, associations and clubs.
- Make sure the questions are as open ended as possible at first. The rule of thumb on open questions is that the question elicits anything other than a yes or no response. A purist might add that this includes questions that can be answered with short one word responses.
- Use the questions to identify areas where the person is comfortable talking.
- Concentrate on making it very easy for the person to make connections with people they know. Use the questions to "guide" them through the process. Most people want to give leads to others. You help them do this and they will feel good about it.
- Once people are identified the next step is to get permission from the person to contact them. If you do this respectfully, most people will actually make an introduction for you.
Bonus: This works really well if you're looking to make more friendship connections.
Good luck! and...
Have a Bodacious Week!
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Coach John S. Nagy is CEO and Lead Business Coach for Coaching for Success. Inc., a Business Coaching Service specifically designed for top level decision makers dedicated to peak performance in all facets of their activities. He’s hired to focus them continuously in activities that bring higher returns on their resource use. His programs are for the seriously committed. This means having his clients work "ON" their businesses, not just "IN" it. He’s a published author and a multi-degree professional with a nationwide client base. Coach Nagy can be reached through his E-mail address at his website at http://www.coach.net and by calling 813-949-0718.
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Copyright © 2000 John S. Nagy
