Ditch the 'Buts'

I didn't know I was doing this until one of clients pointed it out

The other day I was on an in-person meeting with the Head of Business of a luxury brand.

We had already spoken virtually, did a high level discovery and decided we'd do a in person meeting to deep dive into the requirements.

The client told me about his requirements and his strategic initiatives.

He told me a few things that no other client has told me before. Like, "Akshaya I'm not worried about ROI, etc. All I care about is my brand ethics"

As he spoke, I internalised where he was going.

When he finished talking all I told him was, "I understand."

He just stared at me for a while.

I felt a little awkward about the pause, and 10s later he told me,

"Are you really 25?"

I was taken by surprise once again and got curious.

He said, "I've never heard a salesperson at that age stop at that. It has always been, "I understand, but this/that..."

It was not intentional at all. I just really understood what he wanted and clearly what he didn't.

End of the meeting, I had his business and trust.

I've had customers in the past tell me that they felt understood during their interaction with me.

But I had no clue why they felt how they felt. Until this one.

James Buckley would tell me, "There're always few things you can't articulate or document, because maybe it's natural to you"

Maybe.

But if I were to pass on this learning,

Here's how I'd put it:

The more "buts" in your conversation, the more the other person's guards go up.

The more they build sales resistance towards you.

Like I always say, sales is not all transactional.