Most clients have highly fine-tuned senses. In other words, they can smell your motives a mile away.
In my work with top performers in business and in sports, I’ve never come across a great leader whose primary driver was financial gain. In fact, exceptional leaders are so focused on massive value creation and improving the client’s condition that they simply don’t have time for much else, save the vitals such as family and personal development.
The esteemed business philosopher Jim Rohn aptly stated, “You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.”
The fact is many of you need to shift your mindset. The fact is several of you in sales and leadership positions are grossly underestimating your personal and professional value. The fact is, too many of you are focused on the wrong metrics (e.g., money) and not investing enough time asking the right questions, such as:
- How can I improve my listening-to-talking ratio? And why is this so vital?
- How can I show my clients how much I value who they are as business leaders and individuals? And why is this so vital?
- How can I help my clients in such a way as to render the competition irrelevant? And why is this so vital?
To take your career and business to the next level, it is the quality of your questions that will determine the quality of your results. Furthermore, it’s the quality of your thinking that drives the quality of your questions.
To be successful in any endeavor requires a winning mindset. There are very few mental midgets in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or the NHL.
Remember, like an athlete’s continual perception of his coach, your clients are always observing you. Your clients are listening to you. And like it or not, your clients are judging you — asking questions, constantly evaluating, relentlessly comparing, and finally deciding.