Someone always sells someone something…

You either sell the prospective client that they should buy you and your advice or they sell you that they shouldn’t.

You either sell your client that you’re the expert professional whom they should respect and value or you fail and you miss that sale.

As a young recruiter I developed a habit of using phrases like “can I run this past you” or “let me see what you think of this” when selling jobs to candidates.

A master sales man whom I worked for educated me about this type of weak positioning and cured me of the habit.

He drilled it in that this type of talk saves consultants from rejection but is actually inviting the client to reject the advice. Of course, when they rejected the advice they also reject the frame of you being an expert and a professional.

He would say, “What respect would you have for a doctor who ran the planned prescription by you?”

It’s good advice, if you go into advice, then go in properly, don’t let your fragile ego and its fear of rejection stop you from doing the right thing. Don’t let yourself, them or your team down by going in half hearted.

Turns out, who sells who is nearly always determined by who has the strongest belief in what they are saying.

“A short jump is easier than a long one: but no one wanting to get across a wide ditch would begin by jumping half-way.”
Carl Von Clausewitz

PS – Just launched a new service for our accountancy clients. If you are considering selling all or part of your accountancy block of fees or even if you’re curious then you can get a free automated valuation on its market value HERE. Let me have any thoughts on the system.