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Establishing a Common Goal for any Conversation

Guest post by: Patrick T. Malone

Article Overview: First impressions often make the difference in getting the job, or making the sale. Similarly the first few seconds of an important conversation set the tone for how the rest of the conversation is going to proceed and very often has a significant impact on the outcome. Knowing the most effective way to begin important conversations, at home, in business or in a civic setting, is critical to your success.

Establishing a Common Goal for any Conversation

First impressions often make the difference in getting the job, or making the sale. Similarly the first few seconds of an important conversation set the tone for how the rest of the conversation is going to proceed and very often has a significant impact on the outcome. Knowing the most effective way to begin important conversations, at home, in business or in a civic setting, is critical to your success.

We believe there are three critical elements that must be present to be a truly effective opening statement - your confidence in the idea being presented and its benefit to the listener, an invitation to the listener to be neutral and an acknowledgment of the listener as the ultimate decision-maker.

Let's take a closer look at each element.

Confidence



Never discount the power of your own conviction. Your customers/followers are buying your confidence first and then buying your idea, service or product. So you must really believe in what you are advocating. If you only think your idea is good, others will think it is good also but they will not buy it. The old adage "I can sell anything" may have been true at one time but not today. Everyone has more information and is more sophisticated than ever before. They demand your confidence and more.

Your conviction in your product, service or idea is good but even better is your conviction that there is also a benefit or value to your customer is even better. When the conversation begins, your listener is asking themselves, "Why should I care?" or "What's in it for me?" The sooner you answer those questions the quicker the listener will focus on what you are saying. Here are some examples:

"I'm convinced you will improve your cash flow with our financial software."

"I'm sure we can improve your revenue and margins through our incentive program for your sales force."

"Our training program will provide you with a 100% return on investment within 3 months or we will refund the cost with no questions asked."

"Our personal shopping service will save you time and relieve some of the stress of your busy travel schedule."



An Invitation to Neutral

You can dream about all your listeners entering the conversation as "Confident Connie" but that's not reality. In today's competitive environment the best you can hope for is the opportunity to make the case that your product, service or idea are worthy of their consideration.

So the second mission of your opening statement is to create an environment of openness with a willingness to look and listen to your idea. Here are 4 examples of invitations to neutral that build on the above mentioned confident statements.

"Let me demonstrate our software package and show you all the benefits."

"Let me show you just a couple of the options that are designed to drive both revenue and profit."

"Let's review the expected outcomes of your sales training initiative..."

"Let's look at some of the features of our personal shopper service..."



An Acknowledgment of the Listener as the Decision-Maker



For many of you this element will involve the greatest struggle and here is why. Your current mindset is focused on getting to YES. I am now asking you to focus on getting a decision which implies you are okay with a well informed “yes” or “no”. That will be a hard transition for many of you.

If you focus on getting a YES you have engaged in a "win-lose" game. You only win if the customer says YES. I would rather you play the "win-win" game so that both you and the potential customer win.

Potential customers want to make a decision and if your mission is to get a well-informed committed decision both you and the customer win if the answer is YES or NO. Put it in your own personal perspective. Do you like to be sold something or would you rather someone help you make a decision whether or not to buy. We believe most people prefer the latter. So here are some examples.

"Then you can determine if our financial software package is right for your business."

"Then decide if our incentive program will deliver the numbers"

"...to see if they match up with your needs."

"... so you can make a well-informed decision about using our service."

Finally here are the four examples all put together:

"I'm convinced you will improve your cash flow with our financial software. Let me demonstrate our software package and show you all the benefits and then you can determine if our financial software package is right for your business."

"I'm sure we can improve your revenue and margins through our incentive program for your sales force. Let me show you just a couple of the options that are designed to drive both revenue and profit. Then decide if our incentive program will deliver the numbers."

"Our training program will provide you with a 100% return on investment within 3 months or we will refund the cost with no questions asked. Let's review the expected outcomes of our sales training program to see if they match up with your needs."

"Our personal shopping service will save you time and relieve some of the stress of your busy travel schedule. Let's look at some of the features of our personal shopper service so you can make a well-informed decision about using our service."



I am convinced that establishing a good solid decision goal for every important conversation will improve your success rate. Try it for yourself and then decide if it will help you and your business achieve even greater results.

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Article Tags: common goals, getting decisions, opening conversations



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