Cue jaw drop, awkward silence and a fumble of, \u201cEm\u2026 sure, here\u2019s my card,\u201d and you\u2019re left wondering where it all went wrong and what to do next. Was it your lack of conviction or their incessant indecisiveness?<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nNot wanting to take responsibility for any time I lose out on something (I\u2019m a bit competitive, okay?), I blame the prospect. However, it\u2019s not their lack of decision making skills I blame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1) They\u2019re not your ideal client.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m an avid believer that \u2018every opportunity is an opportunity\u2019, but I\u2019m a bigger believer in \u2018your time is a precious commodity\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s only natural that when an opportunity arises to meet with someone interested in paying you for your services, you jump at the chance. But have you pre-qualified this person?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The last thing you want is to spend your time and energy with someone only to find out at the end they\u2019re only in town for a few days, or they were looking for a particular service you don\u2019t actually provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use these pre-qualifying questions before you set an appointment to make sure you and the prospect are a potential match:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n- What\u2019s your experience been working with _____ in the past?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- What happened that you stopped going?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- What\u2019s made you decide to start now?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- What\u2019s important for you when choosing ______?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2) They\u2019re scared!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nYou might be the most pleasant person in the world, but for most prospects, you are full of knowledge they don\u2019t have and are ready to judge them. Although I\u2019m sure this is far from the truth, the unknown is scary<\/a> and judgmental for most people.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThink about the last time you had to venture into the unknown and ask someone with all the knowledge you don\u2019t have for help. It\u2019s scary and there\u2019s a big fear of being not only judged, but being ripped off too. Been to the mechanic lately? I was less terrified watching The Exorcist.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nFor a lot of would be clients, this is a new environment, and potentially the first time they are addressing their health concerns with actionable steps. So everything is a bit, well, scary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best way to quash this for your client is to let them know beforehand what\u2019s going to happen. Keep things simple, and step by step. Tell them exactly what\u2019s going to happen from the moment they arrive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJohn, when you get to the front desk, tell reception you have an appointment to see me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThen what I\u2019m going to do is have a chat with you about your health and your goals and that way we can see if I\u2019m the right person to help you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThen I\u2019ll show you around, go over the options available and you can ask me any questions you have and then you can let me know if you\u2019d like to work with me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nEven when you\u2019re with them, keep reminding them what\u2019s going to happen next (“…after I show you around, we\u2019re going to take a seat at the table and I\u2019m going to go over all the options with you.”), so they can stop the guess work and really listen to what you\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3) They don\u2019t see the value in what you\u2019re charging.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nYes, you might have the best education in the world or the most beautiful facility which, logically, makes sense for your client to pay over the odds for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But people don\u2019t buy on logic. They buy on emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you continue to focus on the value of the \u2018product\u2019 you\u2019re selling and not on the results<\/a> they\u2019ll get from using your services, the perceived value will always be too expensive, i.e.,\u201cI need to think about it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhether your services cost $10 an hour or $1000 an hour, if the perceived value isn\u2019t there for your customer, they\u2019ll always need to \u201cthink about it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2) They\u2019re scared!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nYou might be the most pleasant person in the world, but for most prospects, you are full of knowledge they don\u2019t have and are ready to judge them. Although I\u2019m sure this is far from the truth, the unknown is scary<\/a> and judgmental for most people.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThink about the last time you had to venture into the unknown and ask someone with all the knowledge you don\u2019t have for help. It\u2019s scary and there\u2019s a big fear of being not only judged, but being ripped off too. Been to the mechanic lately? I was less terrified watching The Exorcist.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nFor a lot of would be clients, this is a new environment, and potentially the first time they are addressing their health concerns with actionable steps. So everything is a bit, well, scary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best way to quash this for your client is to let them know beforehand what\u2019s going to happen. Keep things simple, and step by step. Tell them exactly what\u2019s going to happen from the moment they arrive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJohn, when you get to the front desk, tell reception you have an appointment to see me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThen what I\u2019m going to do is have a chat with you about your health and your goals and that way we can see if I\u2019m the right person to help you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThen I\u2019ll show you around, go over the options available and you can ask me any questions you have and then you can let me know if you\u2019d like to work with me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nEven when you\u2019re with them, keep reminding them what\u2019s going to happen next (“…after I show you around, we\u2019re going to take a seat at the table and I\u2019m going to go over all the options with you.”), so they can stop the guess work and really listen to what you\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3) They don\u2019t see the value in what you\u2019re charging.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nYes, you might have the best education in the world or the most beautiful facility which, logically, makes sense for your client to pay over the odds for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But people don\u2019t buy on logic. They buy on emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you continue to focus on the value of the \u2018product\u2019 you\u2019re selling and not on the results<\/a> they\u2019ll get from using your services, the perceived value will always be too expensive, i.e.,\u201cI need to think about it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhether your services cost $10 an hour or $1000 an hour, if the perceived value isn\u2019t there for your customer, they\u2019ll always need to \u201cthink about it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Think about the last time you had to venture into the unknown and ask someone with all the knowledge you don\u2019t have for help. It\u2019s scary and there\u2019s a big fear of being not only judged, but being ripped off too. Been to the mechanic lately? I was less terrified watching The Exorcist.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For a lot of would be clients, this is a new environment, and potentially the first time they are addressing their health concerns with actionable steps. So everything is a bit, well, scary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best way to quash this for your client is to let them know beforehand what\u2019s going to happen. Keep things simple, and step by step. Tell them exactly what\u2019s going to happen from the moment they arrive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJohn, when you get to the front desk, tell reception you have an appointment to see me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Then what I\u2019m going to do is have a chat with you about your health and your goals and that way we can see if I\u2019m the right person to help you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I\u2019ll show you around, go over the options available and you can ask me any questions you have and then you can let me know if you\u2019d like to work with me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even when you\u2019re with them, keep reminding them what\u2019s going to happen next (“…after I show you around, we\u2019re going to take a seat at the table and I\u2019m going to go over all the options with you.”), so they can stop the guess work and really listen to what you\u2019re saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, you might have the best education in the world or the most beautiful facility which, logically, makes sense for your client to pay over the odds for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But people don\u2019t buy on logic. They buy on emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you continue to focus on the value of the \u2018product\u2019 you\u2019re selling and not on the results<\/a> they\u2019ll get from using your services, the perceived value will always be too expensive, i.e.,\u201cI need to think about it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether your services cost $10 an hour or $1000 an hour, if the perceived value isn\u2019t there for your customer, they\u2019ll always need to \u201cthink about it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n3) They don\u2019t see the value in what you\u2019re charging.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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