Perspective

Earlier this week I had a meeting with an entrepreneur.  He’s run a number of businesses and now he’s developing a community building app.  I always enjoy meeting with him because he has a positive “can do” attitude and is such a persevering hard worker.  

He was looking for a different perspective on his business.  One of the challenges businesses and individuals often face is that they become too close to a situation and stop seeing it for what it is.  The third party, outside view can shed a lot of light and in this case it did.

In this case it was a matter of putting myself in the shoes of the prospect and how they feel.  How a prospect feels is often a good place to start because it is the driver behind the need or want and in the case of a not-for-profit it is the reason for its being.  People don’t start or get involved with a not-for-profit for the money, they do it for the cause and are typically very passionate about it.  It’s usually something very close to home.  Hence it was important to examine the emotional aspect of the prospect first before moving forward.

If you’re running a cafe you want your patrons to feel welcome and comfortable.  An architect needs to make the client feel involved and respected in the design.  Sales people need to address the emotional reason, not just the functional reason for a purchase.  Ask yourself, if you don’t know the emotional reason why someone purchases your product then you haven’t asked the right questions.  Studies show that even in the supermarket, the vast majority of purchases are unplanned and driven by emotion.  People buy a minivan because it’s practical and  because it will keep their precious little angels safe.  As a minivan owner I can tell you I didn’t buy it because I thought it would make me look cool!

The value of coaching is not just to ask the questions that need to be asked, but also to provide a sounding board, a brainstorming partner or simply another point of view.  It is through coaching that entrepreneurs and business owners can keep on top of keeping on top.

For more information on how Matthew Page-Hanify can help your business prosper, please call 403-671-3253.

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This entry was posted in 7 Criteria, Be Inspired, Business Coaching, Coaching, Intelligent, Sales and Marketing and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

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