Entrepreneurs, in their first ten years of business, usually feel some type of inadequacy. From a sales perspective, meetings or partnering are not about being equally matched in experience. Instead, the matter is about what we each bring to the table that your prospective client needs, wants and deeply desires.
Sometimes all that is required is an idea and vision of what is possible, and then bring in “the experts” to help you bring it to life. As your idea is heard, excitement is seen. As conversation develops, you may recognize a need for a committee to bring the idea to fruition. And you just might know the perfect fit among your connections. “Recognizing versus critiquing” the talent in each person will bring together a synergistic team that is able to seemingly move mountains.
However, to feel more secure, there are ways to easily develop seemingly professional equality by following these simple steps.
1. Research your prospective partners prior to meeting.
The more you know going into a meeting, and understand how to relate what you learned to your reason for meeting, the greater will be your credibility.
2. Lead with questions.
Upon beginning the business portion of your meeting, ask what caught the person’s attention to agree to meet. As the conversation develops, continue with questions to clarify everything being shared with you. Delve more deeply to fully understand what they themselves are trying to achieve. It’s important to know the answer so that you may develop additional reasons as to why it would be a good idea to work together.
3. Admit what you don’t know.
When you say, “I’d like to learn more about…” many will take you under their wing to explain the information you are missing. The phrase puts a human face on you, and the honesty directs others on how to more easily work together. This goes to developing trust as well as your relationship.
4. Offer connections.
Upon recognizing an interest in you and your idea, ask what the other party needs to move forward including people they would like to meet. Following up in an expedient manner further builds your relationship and credibility. Seeing you are willing to put yourself out to help the more experienced person will put you on an equal playing field.
Over time, personal experience becomes yours. In the meantime, those more experienced than you will have kindly taught you how to advance quickly through the learning curve. And by following the above steps, you will have developed your personal team. Doing this repeatedly, to find the best qualified and matched people to join your team, will bring life to your project and vision.
It’s the collaborative effort that will inject momentum in seeing your vision become reality. Looking back, you will realize that while you didn’t have the same level of capability upfront, you had the brilliance to take the initiative of bringing the right people together to achieve your vision. This is brilliance on an entirely different level, and one that brings about the Smooth Sale.
