Worldhide As I walked along the trail the slithery image of a snake caught my eye so I stopped. I hate snakes. I stopped and waited until the belly mover was out of range and then reclaimed the trail toward the fishing spot. My hiking partner never saw or realized the snake was in our path. Later in the day, we were fly fishing and try as I could; I couldn’t see the fish moving in the waters like my partner could. He had the experience to see through the waters. Each of us had a different visual asset that proved valuable on that day.
Something similar happened today as I listened to a business client share their sales plan. It was clear to me that their 2009 sales plan was missing some important sales strategies. As you know, there are many aspects to a sales and marketing plan. It is important for a sales plan to be complete, have balance and an offensive and defensive strategy. The plan I heard had a strong foundation. However, the client was not adding strategies or tactics that involved social media or networking. albino ball python for sale
It was clear that my client was not aware of social media or networking as an opportunity for new business. When I asked about his experience in social media, the puzzled look on his face indicated I needed to sell my client on making important adjustments to his sales plan.
Seek to Understand Before Being Understood
Rather than embarrass my client for not recognizing their problem, the tactic I took was to understand how and why social networking was not part of the business plan. So, I began asking questions to determine how my client sees the world. My client is of the baby boomer age with no young children to influence his thinking or need to know about Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter or blogging and many other forms of social media.
I shared my experience in using social media and how it is an important part of my business plan and why. My client understood the valid reasons for embracing social media and social networking. We established a plan of action and he modified his sales and marketing plan to include the missing parts.
Just because we see a thing clearly sometimes doesn’t mean that our clients do. The best course of action in selling is to listen first, gain understanding and offer advice or a solution