As a past president of the National Speakers Association, keynote speaker, executive speech coach and sales presentation skills trainer who sells myself on a regular basis I am often asked "how does a consultant get the prospect to say "yes" rather than "No"? .
The secret of getting a "yes" for consulting is to ask questions of the prospective client. The consultant's goal is to get the prospective client to clearly articulate
what is the cost of NOT hiring you. Also, try and compare the investment of hiring YOU next to something else the prospect company is already spending money on.
For example I was talking to one company about coaching their executives for a large client conference. In advance of the meeting I had admired the plants in the visitors center
and discovered they spent $20,000 a year having them maintained. I mentioned "We should keep that amount in mind when we discuss how much it is worth
to have all your executives on track, on message, dynamic and persuasive in front of your 600 important clients."
My associate Alan Weiss when hearing "We do not have the budget to training" always asks, "How many copier machines do you have in this building? What is the cost of the maintenance contracts?
Are your copiers more valuable to you than your employees?"
Alan is my parnter in The Odd Couple marketing and strategy seminar for speakers, coaches, and consultants. I have never seen anyone as good as Alan at directing the conversation into his favor. One of the popular parts of The Odd Couple is the role plays.
Our next event in Vegas is June 27-28, 2009.
