Making calls to prospects is not easy, and getting anyone to call back or remember you is even harder. Here’s a wonderful trick. Obvious. But never done. Just doing it right will make others remember you.
Arielle Ford, an extremely successful publicist for authors like Deepak Chopra (see here) and wannabe authors, wrote recently that the way she gets people to like her is not to be “predatory.” Instead, she says,
“When you go after them, when you start talking to them for the first time, do it from a point of view of, What can I do for you? What do you need today?
“When you’re in public relations and you’re picking up the phone and you’re smiling and dialing and calling the media, of course I would pitch my clients, but I would never get off the phone before asking the media person, “Well, tell me what else you’re working on. What are you on a deadline on? What’s the one thing that you need right now that you don’t have?”
“And if I can find a way to help them, to make their life a little easier, then I’ve made a friend for life.”
Amen.
When you’re smiling and dialing, what if you asked the other person if there was something (besides them buying your product) that you could do to make their life easier or better today?
Wouldn’t they be surprised? Here’s one way.
Ms. Ford relates how one time, early in her public relations career, she was called by the manager of another big client, and before they hung up, he’d always ask her:
“Arielle, how are you today?” And she’d say, ‘Fine.’
But then he’d say to her: “No, no no no – how are you really?”
She relates, “Wow, this guy really cares about me! What if I were like that with other people?”
And that’s what she’s been doing ever since. Her question at the end of her phone conversations is a version of,
What can I do for you to make your day better?
Pretty weird in today’s rushed world. You showed you cared. And that’s why it works.
P.S. This is a question you can add before you hang up when you’re making your own calls.
P.P.S. Thanks to Bob Serling for Arielle’s story
Kim, this is a beautiful example of putting others needs before our own and serving rather than receiving. When we are truly invested and ask "What can I do to make your day better?" we make the world a better place.
Thank you!
Kelly Wissink
This is great for creating a "win-win" scenario. People want to be around people who they think will provide some increase to their life. What a simple twist to change the relationship in an instant.
Trish
http://www.yourhomebusinessroadmap.com
Hey Kim,
I love this. Whether people even realize it or not, they are always more likely to want to continue a relationship when they feel like they are at the center.
It is the way we should all think about our actions day to day. And not just as a business strategy.
Chris Owen