It's amazing how when we make an interaction about the other person and help them discover things rather than tell them, it can make all the difference. We have to communicate to understand, not to be understood!
One of my clients is involved in a local chamber. He happened to be eating lunch with someone he had met through networking, really just getting to know him better, when the topic of that chamber came up.
The person my client was meeting with mentioned that he was a member of the chamber, but that he was about ready to drop his membership.
Curious, my client asked, "What is it about the membership that has you considering dropping it?"
He responded, "Well, I'm just really not meeting the right clientele there."
That led to a longer conversation where my client really dug in to learn more about his clientele and what his ideal prospect looked like. Given what he knew about the chamber, my client shared that his ideal prospect was actually very common at events only open to a higher level in the chamber.
That changed things! By the end of the lunch, he was ready to upgrade his membership instead of cancel!
Interestingly, my client later found out that several people in the chamber had already talked to him about that level of membership. But they were trying to sell him on that level, instead of finding out what his reasons for being in the chamber were and whether he was achieving those goals or not.
They were "telling" instead of truly "selling" the right way. He told my client that he didn't even know that additional level existed!
But when he talked to someone who was in it to help him, not inform him, the information finally sunk in. By asking questions and listening to the response, my client helped him discover for himself that it would be a good fit. My client wanted to understand more than he wanted to be understood.
