The Power of Questions to Attract Ideal Clients
The Power of Questions to Attract Ideal Clients
My mother wanted to be sure that her condo in Florida was in my name. When she checked with the condo administrator she found there was a Quit Claim Deed dated 1990 on file that said just the opposite. The condo was taken out of my name and put in the name of both my parents.
The advice from the condo administrator was to get another Quit Claim Deed to make it in my name again. How could we do that? She directed us to the self help desk in the court house.
My mother is 93 and court houses are usually big and require lots of walking. She uses a walker so that didn’t seem like something she could do. Besides I wanted it done correctly and we really didn’t know what we were doing. I suggested we call a lawyer.
Reluctantly (“It will cost too much!”) she agreed that I could make the call as long as I found out how much the fee would be first.
I called an attorney and asked him his hourly rate and an estimate of how much it would cost to file a new Quit Claim Deed. He asked these questions:
* Had I considered the impact of this change on my estate?
* Had my mother ever gifted me anything before?
* What affect would this have on my mother’s taxes?
* What affect would this have on my taxes?
He added that he would tell me his hourly rate but he couldn’t tell me how long it would take him. His questions showed me that this was more complex than we had originally thought. His final comment really resonated with me. He said he would only do the work if he was allowed to do it correctly. He wasn’t interested in doing just the Quit Claim Deed unless he was satisfied that that was all we needed.
I was impressed with his questions all of which led me to the conclusion that if I wanted to get this taken care of I needed an attorney to do it. Since my parents and I have been pretty thorough about estate planning together, I decided to wait to look in my home file that contained both my mother’s plan and mine.
It turned out that I had a deed done in 1990 with a date a month later than the Quit Claim Deed giving me the property. It seems my parents had originally done something by themselves (Sometimes “It will cost too much!” makes it cost more.) and then had a lawyer look at it. Whatever they had done, was not what they had intended to do. The attorney fixed what they did with the Quit Claim Deed and then created a deed in which the property was in my name. The problem was resolved then and we didn’t need to do anything now.
If however there had been a problem, I definitely would have gone back to that attorney. The questions he asked made me see first that I had a complex problem and that he was someone who could handle this complexity. Second, I now realized that there were a lot of considerations for me and for my mother. What I needed was someone who could help us see the implications of making this change to other parts of our lives. Finally his closing statement told me the terms that he would accept my case. He left the ball in my court to call him.
Take Action
1. Think about your discussions with a potential client. Clients don’t always know what they need. Ask questions that help you to see the scope of the work and let the clients feel the complexity. Make a list of those kinds of questions now to get a sense of what they would be for your type of work.
2. Clients don’t think about the impact one change can have on other aspects of their lives or their businesses. Make a list of questions from your type of work that will help them to see this.
3. Make sure you know who the decision maker is and find the influencers too. Ask questions that allow you to build a relationship with both the influencers and the decision maker. Make a list of these types of questions.
4. What are your standards? How do you let clients know how to do business with you? Write a list of questions and statements to let clients know what it takes to work with you and helps you determine if the client is right for you. This helps you attract only those clients who are perfect for you and those who will respect you.
The Power of Questions to Attract Ideal Clients - To learn more about this author, visit Alvah Parker's Website.
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The Power of Questions to Attract Ideal Clients
My mother wanted to be sure that her condo in Florida was in my name. When she checked with the condo administrator she found there was a Quit Claim Deed dated 1990 on file that said just the opposite. The condo was taken out of my name and put in the name of both my parents.
The advice from the condo administrator was to get another Quit Claim Deed to make it in my name again. How could we do that? She directed us to the self help desk in the court house.
My mother is 93 and court houses are usually big and require lots of walking. She uses a walker so that didn’t seem like something she could do. Besides I wanted it done correctly and we really didn’t know what we were doing. I suggested we call a lawyer.
Reluctantly (“It will cost too much!”) she agreed that I could make the call as long as I found out how much the fee would be first.
I called an attorney and asked him his hourly rate and an estimate of how much it would cost to file a new Quit Claim Deed. He asked these questions:
* Had I considered the impact of this change on my estate?
* Had my mother ever gifted me anything before?
* What affect would this have on my mother’s taxes?
* What affect would this have on my taxes?
He added that he would tell me his hourly rate but he couldn’t tell me how long it would take him. His questions showed me that this was more complex than we had originally thought. His final comment really resonated with me. He said he would only do the work if he was allowed to do it correctly. He wasn’t interested in doing just the Quit Claim Deed unless he was satisfied that that was all we needed.
I was impressed with his questions all of which led me to the conclusion that if I wanted to get this taken care of I needed an attorney to do it. Since my parents and I have been pretty thorough about estate planning together, I decided to wait to look in my home file that contained both my mother’s plan and mine.
It turned out that I had a deed done in 1990 with a date a month later than the Quit Claim Deed giving me the property. It seems my parents had originally done something by themselves (Sometimes “It will cost too much!” makes it cost more.) and then had a lawyer look at it. Whatever they had done, was not what they had intended to do. The attorney fixed what they did with the Quit Claim Deed and then created a deed in which the property was in my name. The problem was resolved then and we didn’t need to do anything now.
If however there had been a problem, I definitely would have gone back to that attorney. The questions he asked made me see first that I had a complex problem and that he was someone who could handle this complexity. Second, I now realized that there were a lot of considerations for me and for my mother. What I needed was someone who could help us see the implications of making this change to other parts of our lives. Finally his closing statement told me the terms that he would accept my case. He left the ball in my court to call him.
Take Action
1. Think about your discussions with a potential client. Clients don’t always know what they need. Ask questions that help you to see the scope of the work and let the clients feel the complexity. Make a list of those kinds of questions now to get a sense of what they would be for your type of work.
2. Clients don’t think about the impact one change can have on other aspects of their lives or their businesses. Make a list of questions from your type of work that will help them to see this.
3. Make sure you know who the decision maker is and find the influencers too. Ask questions that allow you to build a relationship with both the influencers and the decision maker. Make a list of these types of questions.
4. What are your standards? How do you let clients know how to do business with you? Write a list of questions and statements to let clients know what it takes to work with you and helps you determine if the client is right for you. This helps you attract only those clients who are perfect for you and those who will respect you.
The Power of Questions to Attract Ideal Clients - To learn more about this author, visit Alvah Parker's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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