Connect with your new prospect…Tip 25
Your prospect took an hour off his busy life and invited you to his boardroom. In the seconds of introduction, you need to connect this possibly ignorant and uninformed, but smart, stranger. He's watching your performance for the first time – so make it the best hour of his life…and etch it into his memory. That's a Mario Pretorius tip on how to meet and impress a new business prospect
This sounds sooo insulting, but also reflects Chomsky's opinion that business consists of selling goods and services to ignorant people making uninformed decisions
And that is you as well. You want the 'something', you choose the prospective vendors on reputation or reference, the warm bodies pitch their wares after which you make your emotional decision based on .. well then you justify it factually. It's called rationalising your decision and that is how humans are wired to do it.
Just look at the choices of spouses around you if you ever doubt it that we are generally incapable of getting even the most important decision EVER correct. It's worse for men too – no make-up to conceal, no come-on moves .. you get the idea.
So there's a grim-faced, tight-lipped unknown person hiding behind a blank façade and wire rimmed glasses watching your performance for the first time.
This is no different to the actor on stage – the audience is unknown but they paid for entry. You prospect took an hour of his busy life and invited you to his boardroom, he has paid the price, it's up to you.
Always validate the other person in your very first sentence. Of course you've googled the company, read their press releases. Read his LinkedIn profile, know the current supplier and its weaknesses and in the seconds of introduction you need to connect this possibly ignorant and uninformed but smart stranger.
Validate. Its personal, so no pointers here, but your sincerity and the relevance of the comment is the difference between isometrics and progress. (Isometrics gets you tired but gets you nowhere).Pleased to meet you John, you're the guy that spoke so well on biometrics at Langley last year? And so on.
Get to easy, informative and relevant. Its hard hunting the savannahs of Africa, your forebears did this successfully and now it's time to do this for your progeny – and you have a willing participant of prey, except you want to give more than you want to take away. Make that the best hour of his life – of course you are prepared and decisive, informed and rational. Etch the performance into John's memory, like almost everyone outside of your company, they lead boring and stressful lives of limited meaning and you could be the one adding warmth with their clever purchase
This tip is an extract from the manuscript of "The Unconventional CEO: Common sense outside of conventional Management thinking" (by Mario Pretorius).