Disappointment is a Wonderful Springboard

OK OK Calm Down! I know I'm a day later than expected but the fact is that I spent the last two days on a buying trip and there simply wasn't time to come up with anything inspiring. Let's face it, sleep deprivation, red wine and creativity don't mix.

This week I want you to think about something that you will no doubt have faced in the last week - disappointment. At some point something will not have gone the way you expected it to. You moaned, you vented, you told people off and, if you were lucky, you managed to resolve the situation.

Now consider this for a moment. What would have happened if, just as you were feeling that disappointment, someone came along from an alternative source and solved your problem? Surely their appearance will have been accompanied with a glowing white light and a chorus of angels! A true saviour in your hour of need. Who is this masked stranger?

You see, at any given moment, you can become a hero, and then turn that situation to your advantage in order to create business. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? All you have to do now is jump on the phones, call hundreds of people and wait until one of them sounds just a little bit upset.

Because you'll always take a cold call when you're having a bad day won't you?

Oh no! A gaping whole in an otherwise flawless plan - how ever will we handle this catastrophe??? Geez, you really are very excitable today aren't you? Have you considered the revolution that is decaf?

OK, so we need a plan. Well the first thing to consider is that disappointment takes many forms. At one end of the spectrum you have an encyclopedia of errors that leave you looking for the nearest tall building with access to an open window, but on the other end of the spectrum, there are those results which simply have you shrug your shoulders and say "Oh well".

THAT is the disappointment that you're looking for.

Not everyone has those nightmare moments, but everyone, without exception, has had a moment when they had hoped that things would go a little better. A mailing campaign that produced better than a 1% return. A sale where the only way to close the business was to offer a discount and therefore lower one's margins.

And how to capitalise on this? It's simple - all you need to do is add one more to your list of already powerful questions. "Tell me something, when was the last time that you took a look at a result and wished that it could have gone a little better?"

BOOM! How can they not answer that with some powerful information? Remember that good relationships come from asking good questions, and I think that this one is a doozey (is that how you spell doozey? Doozie, doozee - I don't know).

Now what you do with the information after that is entirely up to you, but taking an interest in this client and really getting them to open up to you should present more opportunities than simply asking what their current needs might be.

Now this information comes at a price. Other sales gurus will want you to buy their books or go to their seminars. Well I don't have a book out there and I'm not hosting any seminars. All I ask of you is that you share this blog with others and that you report back on how these tips are working out for you.

Have a good week.