Today I had an appointment with a new client.
This client is doing some pretty amazing things for children and families across the country, so it was a perfect opportunity to practice this principle from Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People
Truthfully, I struggle more with getting to the business point of things than I do with being genuinely interested in others.
Before I know it, I’m finding out about a prospect’s first jobs and what led them to start their current businesses or how they met their spouses and where the kids go to college.
That said, I don’t think you can go wrong by showing genuine interest… not that junk where you suggest that perhaps the prospective client likes to fish when you see four mounted large mouth bass around the office. That’s cheap sales tactics.
Being genuinely interested in someone and her story is completely different. It’s not really even about rapport-building or finding common ground. It’s about getting to the heart of things. Being interested helps you understand what is important to that person and how you can best serve her or him. More importantly, genuine interest is an amazing learning tool.
Practice genuine interest. It’s a skill. Once you start hearing the stories, you’ll be hooked. Most people have a huge treasure trove of experience or an interesting, unique perspective on things. We’d do well to learn to listen with some interest.
I admitted that it might actually get in the way of effective selling, but over time, I think it’ll pan out.
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