You might have been banging away, typing 10,000 words of web copy daily to promote your web-services business.
It has been weeks, and no one responded. Today, one emailed you. That email may look like this.
“Hi Aldric, I have been reading your work for the past 2 weeks. I am the Chief Marketing Officer from Company X. Can we meet for tea this afternoon for 30 minutes?”
As always, my answer is a euphoric yes!
Then, the initial positive vibes are chewed away, bit by bit, by our naivety.
The reason? I allowed my first deal to evaporate right before me. Let me share my experience, fast-forwarding to the conclusion of my first business tea session.
At the 20th-minute mark of the client meeting, I realized we were heading nowhere. The tell-tale signs were obvious. Isaline nodded at every word I spat out while scrolling her phone and sipping the last drips of latte.
Our eye contact broke 10 minutes back. I suffered from passive cold treatment, and it felt terrible pitching to a wall.
So, I mustered my courage and asked the following question:
“Isaline, while you are not saying it explicitly, I know we are not going to deal today. May I know what you are thinking and how we can advance our mutual interests?”
That turned out to be the best question I have ever asked in that tea session. Ever.
This is what she said:
- She got tired of attempting to have a conversation with me. I was too busy pitching for my dear life and speaking without commas.
- She told me, respectfully, that I was all about my products, services, business, and me.
- That translated to, in my opinion, not using the time to find out what the customer wants. Big mistake.
- She mentioned that she knew what I am doing just by reading my web copy. However, her impression of me changed after meeting me face-to-face. In her words, I appear to be a talk-you-down.
Isaline is a worthy client to have. She says things the way it is. I gulped many times as she spoke.
I took notes for further improvements.
Note: When clients are giving us direct feedback, record them. While their feedback might contain a mixed bag of grouses and laments, there will be a pot of gold when we dig hard enough.
It is time to get back to the drawing board and put that to practice.
