We’re all different! The needs of one individual differ from the next; it’s the same in business, rarely does a one size fits all work!
Several years ago, my husband and I bought a new build house in a small village called Stonehouse, it’s the countryside location I’d always dreamt of! When purchasing this house, the salesperson Tammi proved to be fabulous at her job, our move in date went without a hitch. Only 2 weeks into living there, my husband announced he didn’t like it and wanted to move closer to Glasgow city centre; we discussed the options in a remarkably calm manner and decided that we would have to stay there for a couple of years before making the next move. Just over 2 years later, our opportunity to move arose, we’d found the ideal location and approached the house builder, only to find that Tammi was the Salesperson. As there are many house style options at various price points, Tammi listened to what we were looking for, understood our price point, and was clear on what our must-have options were, by doing this she presented only houses that she knew we would consider, and with a little negotiating over minor details, the deal was sealed, and we moved in a few months later.
The same format applies when in communication with potential clients – it is important to give them the opportunity to speak, which in turn gives us the opportunity to listen and actually pick up on important signals or information that otherwise may be missed. Only recently I had a conversation where, when talking about the Scotwork ANS course, the client mentioned that they may find it difficult to have a group of their team train together. This signalled to me that another option should be given to the client, as having personnel away from their day-to-day job function to train collectively wouldn’t be suitable.
To give alternative options to provide a solution is a method used for keeping your client interested, there can be many reasons why only one option will not work – i.e., lack of personnel, time constraints, budget and many more. To assume you know the reason, your client says “NO” to your offer is a mistake, take time to understand all their requirements, as you may not need to discount price etc, but repackage the deal according to how your offer can better meet their needs.
In my scenario, the option I can offer the client is to have the personnel trained separately on public courses. Therefore, the client achieves the end goal of having all personnel up-skilled, while having cover on the day-to-day basis. This is an example of one issue – you may have to work around several issues – which calls you to be creative with your options, it can take time to have the ultimate outcome of all satisfied parties.
The common phrase “The Devil is in the detail, or God is in the detail” comes to mind; attention paid to small things can have big rewards.
