How Are You?
George Costanza, the famous personality from the sitcom Seinfeld advises that while at work, in order to look busy, always carry lots of papers and walk fast while in the office.
He’s right to a certain degree. Most of us are actually really busy. And even when we’re not, we’re trained (like George) to make ourselves appear busy. So naturally, as you’re beginning a meeting or call with a client or prospect, you’ll ask each other how you’re doing and the answer in both directions will be some form of “busy” Typically, we respond with: “I’ve been busy…lots of travel lately…I’m looking forward to the warm weather…” or some other general appropriate answer. There’s nothing wrong with these answers, but as salespeople and business developers, we may be missing an opportunity.
Here’s an answer we’ve used recently to How have you been?...
It’s been exciting. In addition to sales training and coaching we’ve been growing our college business, where we provide sales training for college students and then help them get jobs. Lots of sales organizations have been excited to recruit from this young, hungry talent pool. How have you been lately?
And from a client…
It’s been great. There’s been a great buzz about our 3-D TVs coming out later this summer, so we’ve been very busy? How are you?
We’re taking this opportunity to demonstrate our passion for our business and “plant a seed” about a potential opportunity for that client or prospect. Here’s how top performers approach this opportunity.
- Prepare. You know it’s coming – when was the last meeting or call you were on when the other party didn’t ask you how you were doing? You can prepare for “rapport” and this thinking in advance is a key step in that preparation. Of course you can wing it, but if you do, you’re very likely to answer in a lazy way. We are all better if we take 3 minutes to think about how to answer this question in advance. The goal here is to not sound salesy, but to genuinely and succinctly tell them about something you’ve been working on that could be ultimately beneficial to them.
- Focus on them. After you deliver your strategic answer to “How have you been?”; listen and watch their reply. You may receive a buying signal or two by observing their verbal or non-verbal feedback. If they do demonstrate interest, use your judgment as to when to address the topic in more depth (immediately; later in that meeting; at another meeting).
- If they’re “busy”, it’s an invitation. Naturally in this conversation you’ll ask them how they’ve been, and they will most likely answer with some form of “busy…” or “things have been crazy around here…” You can leave it at that with: “I know…” or you can ask more questions like: “What have you been working on? How’s it going?” etc. “I’ve been busy” from the client is a huge invitation to potentially expand the relationship if you can use it to identify an area where you can help the client. In a recent example, a salesperson found her client to be “swamped” preparing an RFP. As the salesperson learned more, she realized that she had seen several RFPs similar to the one the client was preparing, so she offered to help. The client accepted the offer. Who do you think was fairly well positioned to win the business through the RFP process after she helped create the RFP document?
We’d bet that at your next meeting you’ll be asked how you’re doing by a client or prospect. You’ll be much better off and create more chances for more business if you: prepare in advance; focus on their feedback; and probe further when they say they’re busy.