Greg's Right FIT #525 – This week: Questions, Talking, Fencing

Quick notes to help you find new business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week. 

In this issue: 

• Thoughts on Questions
• Being Human
• Random Stuff

Thoughts on Questions

• Asking prospects (or anyone, really) to, "Tell me more about that," forces us into listening mode. It also does a good job of getting the prospect to tell you a lot more about the thing they are talking about.
• Asking prospects, "Give me one problem you're working on, so I can give you an example," shortens conversations because it grounds us in their world. Talking about what you do in the context of something they understand is a shortcut in communication.
• Saying to prospects, "What is it that prompted you to take this meeting?" shortens the time it takes for opportunity development. Prepare what you're going to say, but start by asking if they have something in mind.
• Saying to prospects on your second, third, or other subsequent meeting, "The last time we talked [summarize original opportunity], what, if anything, has changed since we last met?" shortens sales cycles. Things change. Rapidly. Don't assume the momentum you built in the last meeting is still there for this one.

Being Human – Talk, talk, talky talk

“I'm into, oh murders and executions mostly. It depends.”
― Patrick Bateman, American Psycho

Over the years I have been in meeting with a certain very important person. It's happened enough that others talk to me about him. They say things like, "he's tough to read, right?" or "I can never tell what he's thinking," and look for my advice in dealing with him.

Before I get to that advice, let me tell you about an early experience I had with a banker who put me in front of his boss. We had a decent sized line of credit with them and I was giving an update on the state of the business. We were on target, but not beating expectations by any means. I described the business in those general terms, telling them they are getting paid, but also outlining the risks we face. This was around the time of an economic crash, so meetings like this were happening all over the city, and probably all over the country.

When we left the meeting, a meeting I felt good about, my banker turned to me and said, "I wish you wouldn't have done that." Done what? "Talked."

The bank pulled our line of credit a few weeks later, and we moved to a new bank. With that banker, I said nothing. That relationship lasted for years and years.

Back to the VIP. The guy is hard to read because he doesn't talk. He is as stony faced a capitalist as I've ever met. A caricature. He will sit in silence far longer than the average human. Since he's so quiet, he has the reputation of being smarter than everyone else in the room. He may be, but he's not going to tell you about it. I see him and his wife out and wonder, what do you two talk about?

The people that meet with him talk. And talk. They fill the space he leaves for them and they walk out thinking, "I can't read that guy." They're right. They talk too much when they need him to talk.

If no one said anything, nothing would get done. Knowing this, my advice is to have some go-to questions for getting people to talk. Get used to asking and letting the question linger. Think about when you get asked a question. How long does it take you to form an answer? How often do you think of something you should have said later in the conversation? Give space to the person you're talking to. It's hard to wait out a guy like the VIP, but you can do it. He says some interesting things.

Try it. Who knows what you'll find out.

Random Stuff

"Well, you gotta live somewhere." – guy behind UHaul counter to John Green and his wife, Sarah, when asked what he thought of Indianapolis, IN.

I've been reading a lot about garden fences. We were visiting relatives in Minnesota last summer and they had a great little garden, surrounded by a rabbit proof fence. Last year we had a lot of rabbits around. One family nested in the raised box I built the year before. Wilson the ABC found most of those bunnies before the hawks did. That won't stop others from visiting the yard. It seemed like every time I went weeding, one would take off through the brush scaring me half to death. Fencing in the garden, at least part of it, seems like a good idea.

At the same time I fence in the raised beds I can finish another garden project. Drip irrigation. When we leave for trips in the summer, I drag out a series of soaker hoses and their connectors, attach them to a timer and let them rip. They seem to work. The neighbor has a more sophisticated set up involving drip lines they keep out all year. I like that. I bought a kit last year and it's still sitting on my shelf.

That's my plan. Build a fence. Fill the space between the raised beds with a ton of pea gravel. Snake the drip lines under the gravel to the beds, attach a permanent timer, and bam. No bunnies and less time watering everything. More time for weeding and pruning.

That's what I'm thinking about right now. Digging around an improved garden setup. Getting muddy. Getting sweaty. Sitting on the porch under the fan sipping a tall glass of water. The long day ahead giving me time to root around and take a long walk around the neighborhood in short sleeves and short pants before it gets dark. Maybe we'll even head to the local cantina and have a cocktail on their back porch. The sun will be back up before we know it.

That's another day. Today, it's -5 F as I type this. It will get up to 3 F around 4pm, 90 minutes before the sun sets. The dark part of winter is holding on, but spring and summer are coming. The seed catalogs tell me so.