Make it relevant

Last night I had the pleasure of speaking with a representative of Colorado Technical University. Now I would normally not spend much time on the phone with a telemarketer at eight o clock at night but through my low tolerance and patience level Christopher began to do something quite refreshing, he began to help me.

Through a series of casual friendly questions that quite honestly I was not in the mood for at the time Chris identified something that I wanted to know and that was relevant to me. He then went out of his way to search out and answer my concerns and questions about a possible education and the university I was currently investigating. He did this without ever putting the other facility down in any way. Now that I think about it he even pointed out a few positives about the program. Throughout our discussion Chris reassured me that he had a passion for other people’s education and before we hung up he was going to find the answers to my questions.

As we moved through the discussion Chris worked feverishly on the other end of the line to dig up answers and email me links (as we spoke) to relevant articles. I began to note a change in our discussion we were laughing and joking, mixed in with serious discussions about the pros and cons of different elements of the educational opportunities I was exploring.

Throughout the call Christopher took opportunities to point out the benefits that his facility offered and casually guided me in and out of a discussion about how it would benefit me. Even though they did not have exactly what I was looking for he explained to me what they did have and the value it offered. Christopher Identified and clarified a couple of key things that I was not aware of and showed me how those things could affect me along the way if I chose to proceed. He finished the call by explaining the links he had sent me that supported his comments and recommendations and gave me his direct line assuring me that if I did choose their facility that he would be there for me every step of the way as I got started.

This conversation reminded me of a lunch that I had a couple of years ago with a Dale Carnegie representative. After a long discussion filled with questions and him noting my answers the rep asked me his final question: Richard if you could get your reps to do one thing that you know would dramatically improve their results what would it be”? My answer, to do exactly what he had just done to me! Ask me a series of questions in a casual and comfortable way designed to identify concerns or needs that I have so that he could then show me how his services could provide a solution and be of value to me. Do this with belief, excitement, and a passion to really help me during the time we were together and have a genuine desire to help me to achieve my goals.

Zig Ziglar always says “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want”. Whether you are in sales, service, or just want to apply this to life and relationships it carries the same effectiveness. Ask good questions, listen carefully to the answers, identify their needs or concerns, Identify a relevant solution and offer to help them along the way. That is what builds success and gets us to our goals!