How would you answer this question: Why does someone or a firm engage you or decide to buy from you? Take a moment and write down the reasons you think people buy.
From what I have seen in most professional schools, people compete to have the best grades, the most outstanding ideas and the most highly thought of papers. I have noticed that students who do well often get the most attention from teachers.
I wonder how many professionals believe that people buy because they think the company they are dealing with is the sharpest, the best or the smartest. I have seen brochures telling about all the features and benefits a company provides, the achievements of their partners, the creative products and services, and the number of firms or clients they have served.
Do you think people buy because of how well you did in school or how successful you have been with other clients? Maybe some people do.
I want to suggest two reasons people buy from you. The first is: they TRUST you. They believe you will act in their best interest rather than your own. They believe they know something about your values and those values are similar to theirs. They have the conviction that you will do what you say you will do. I am not suggesting you employ an advertising campaign to try to convince someone to trust you–I am not suggesting any particular strategies. In fact, I am wondering what your strategy is for building trust with another human being.
If the prospective client or buyer does not trust you, does the probability that they will engage you or buy from you go up or down? So what is your strategy for building trust?
The second reason people engage you or buy your products or services is: They have the conviction that you understand their problems and can solve them. Does your brochure or your marketing material assume there are only a few problems you can solve, or do you even focus on problems at all? When you look at how you present yourself, your firm, your products or services, do you focus on your solutions, your achievements, your ability to overcome barriers to success, your features and benefits? Or do you focus on their problems or how you will find out what they want to accomplish? Going back to our early experience in school, where did we get the most acclaim? Wasn’t it from our own personal achievements?
Focusing on what we have done or what we can do puts the attention back on us rather than on the issues our prospective clients or buyers have. So what is your strategy for discovering not just their needs but even deeper, their frustrations, their hopes and dreams, and their personal, emotional compelling, reasons for speaking with you?
You may have great strategies for creating trust and assisting prospective clients and buyers discover their conviction that you understand their problems and can solve them. What about the people in your firm who have not yet learned how to do these things? How will they discover dependable strategies that will build trust every time? Who is teaching them how to succeed in this increasingly competitive professional world?
