When a prospective client makes contact to book an appointment, your initial reaction I am sure is to make yourself available to them anytime and as quickly as possible because you need more business.
But just stop for one minute and think about what this is saying about you and your company...
- If you can see them straight away then it implies that you haven't got much else to do and that you are not busy - If you are not busy, then are you really that good at what you do? An empty diary is not a good signal to be giving to a prospective client - If you jump on the opportunity immediately it can also be seen as desperation.
If you are seen as desperate for business then the prospective client will be rubbing their hands together knowing that they will be able to drive your price down So what can you do to address this challenge and win more clients in the process? Well, imagine if you now change your answer to "When can we Meet?" to "I'm booked out with clients for the next two weeks, so could you make it on the [insert date]?".
Even if you have an empty diary, the fact that someone now has to wait 2 weeks to see you, what are you now saying about your business? - I'm busy, which implies you have lots of clients which means you must be good otherwise why would you be booked out in advance? - I'm in demand.
Lots of people want to do business with me and you should too - I'm not going to budge on price, because if you don't want to work with me, I've lots of other paying clients who will pay me the rate I normally charge This strategy of booking people in your diary 2 weeks in advance will soon become habit, and it will become known to your wider network that you really are more unavailable than you used to be, because you are so busy and in demand.
People want to be associated with busy and in demand business people, it makes them feel important when they secure time with you and they also appreciate the time that you give to them more.
Go on, try it! You never know what might happen and I would love to hear your comments about how this strategy has worked for you.
But just stop for one minute and think about what this is saying about you and your company...
- If you can see them straight away then it implies that you haven't got much else to do and that you are not busy - If you are not busy, then are you really that good at what you do? An empty diary is not a good signal to be giving to a prospective client - If you jump on the opportunity immediately it can also be seen as desperation.
If you are seen as desperate for business then the prospective client will be rubbing their hands together knowing that they will be able to drive your price down So what can you do to address this challenge and win more clients in the process? Well, imagine if you now change your answer to "When can we Meet?" to "I'm booked out with clients for the next two weeks, so could you make it on the [insert date]?".
Even if you have an empty diary, the fact that someone now has to wait 2 weeks to see you, what are you now saying about your business? - I'm busy, which implies you have lots of clients which means you must be good otherwise why would you be booked out in advance? - I'm in demand.
Lots of people want to do business with me and you should too - I'm not going to budge on price, because if you don't want to work with me, I've lots of other paying clients who will pay me the rate I normally charge This strategy of booking people in your diary 2 weeks in advance will soon become habit, and it will become known to your wider network that you really are more unavailable than you used to be, because you are so busy and in demand.
People want to be associated with busy and in demand business people, it makes them feel important when they secure time with you and they also appreciate the time that you give to them more.
Go on, try it! You never know what might happen and I would love to hear your comments about how this strategy has worked for you.
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