As a Small Business Owner you may not be sure how to have a fruitful discussion with potential clients.

On one hand you don’t want to come off as salesy. Which I totally get, I don’t want that either. 

But on the other hand you also don’t want to just have a friendly conversation that leads nowhere and is left hanging open.

I’m not saying that a conversation has to lead to a sale, far from it. The point is that it does lead somewhere, either way.

The goal of the conversation is that it leads to a smart decision. The decision can be to work together and it can also be not to work together.

When you focus on getting to the truth, all stress disappears. Trust is built and you will find the best solution for you and for the client. Even if that means you won’t be working together.

Intention

Your intention is not to make a sale.

Your intention is to discover the truth of the person’s situation, whatever it is.

This truth will lead to a yes or a no and both are perfect. If someone isn’t a fit you can always give a referral.

“Intention is everything.” Danielle LaPorte

There are people who will tell you to look for pain points and then push on them. And they will tell you to be prepared to overcome any and all objections to convince someone to work with you.

It may work but that that is not how I roll. I trust that people know what is best for them and can make the decision to work together, or not, on their own.

This is also the way that my clients prefer to have conversations in their businesses. No pressure, no stress with the intention to get to the truth.

For more on intention, including two example situations, check out this post. 

Goals

Ask the person who is interested in working with you to think about and then write down and send you the goals they have for your work together before you meet. Use these goals as a starting point for your discussion.

It’s also a good idea to send the people a link to your offers and ask them to take a look before you meet so they can bring any questions they have with them to the chat.

Read more about how to connect and have a conversation in the last section of this post. 

Conversation

This conversation is not a free coaching or mentoring session. That is something different and if you want to offer that you can.

The conversation I’m talking about is to find out what the person’s goals are, how you can help, and if you’re a good fit.

You will ask questions and listen carefully. Listen with the intent to deeply understand. Read more on this here. You can also invite the person to ask you questions.

And often, through the discussion, ideas will emerge and a direction will become clear. That’s great, be glad it happens.

Just make sure your main focus and intention is to discover the truth of the situation and don’t let the conversation slide into a coaching session.

If the person is not ready to make a decision, don’t push it. Invite her to take her time and that she can let you know when she is ready. Also let her know she can ask any new questions that might come up in the meantime.

If she doesn’t let you know when she will come back to you, you can always check in two or three weeks later. More on this in my post, How Many Times to Follow Up With Someone and How to Do It. 

Feeling inspired to have more conversations that aren’t stressful and are actually loads of fun?

I hope you can see that it is possible to have a structured call with a goal in mind (getting to the truth) without focusing on selling.

End each conversation with a decision (yes or no) or an agreement to get back in touch once a decision has been made.

Stay connected to your intention to discover the truth and every conversation you have with a potential client will be an eye-opening and valuable experience for you both.

© Stephanie Ward

Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to create meaningful and prosperous businesses. Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: https://www.fireflycoaching.com.

How do you structure the conversations you have with potential clients? Share your experiences and questions below in the comments section.