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Bernadette Doyle

When I started my business back in 1996, I had just recently completed some training in the area of NLP, neuro-linguistic programming (with PPD Learning in London, who I highly recommend). I had worked as a salesperson for a few years and my plan was to provide sales training based on NLP.

Well you know the old saying…if you want to make God laugh, show him your plans! I quickly realized that I wasn't the only person in the world to have had this idea. There were already lots of people knocking on doors to talk about NLP to improve sales, and many of those people had more experience, and better contacts. What did I have to stand out?

Well, I did have one thing working for me. In my previous job as a New Business Salesperson for a telecoms company, I'd had to do cold calling. Although I hated it at first, I'd actually discovered some techniques that really made a difference, and because managers in that company noticed that I was both comfortable and effective doing cold calling, they asked me to help out members of their team (remember this was still when I was an employee. So I delivered some training internally within this company, helping people to get motivated and have more success on cold calling.

So instead of making myself a general NLP sales trainer, I just focused on one thing that I knew people wanted. And I knew people wanted and needed help with cold-calling because I'd worked for so many sales managers who were tearing their hair out trying to get their sales people on the phone. And I knew that most sales people complain about having to make appointments and cold calling, and they always think that somebody else should do it for them. So I knew it was an existing issue in companies, and I knew that I had something that could help.

So my first lesson in business was to learn to align and package my services and expertise in a form that people actually wanted. If you've been encountering indifference or rejection, you must ask: "What have I been offering to companies so far, what's the feedback been?" And you need to be willing to adapt both the content and the form of what you are offering, if necessary.

This week I want you to answer the following question honestly. Are you packaging your services and expertise in a form that people want? How do you find out what people want? Well, you listen to them and you pay attention to what they're already buying. If you're targeting a certain sector, you absolutely need to be reading those trade magazines, attending trade events and meetings and find out what people are bothered about and what their biggest problems are.

If people are telling you that what you're offering 'isn't a priority right now' that means that something else is. Figure out what that is, and if it's something you can help with, that's your starting point.

© 2007 Bernadette Doyle

Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then get your free tips now at www.clientmagnets.com