A List of Could’ves
You just had a lousy interaction with a prospect and didn’t get the order. You may have even missed the opportunity to sell the next appointment. Or maybe you just fumbled the ball or simply know you weren’t at your best.
The call ends or the meeting is over, and just like the old V8 juice commercial, you slap your forehead and say “I could’ve… [insert something you could have done better here]”.
I know the feeling.
We’ve all been there at one time or another.
As a matter of fact it just happened to me on a call a couple weeks ago and I had the proverbial forehead-slapping moment right after the call ended. Instead of just stopping at the first “I could’ve” that popped into my head, I made a list of several “Could’ves” that I can keep on my desk, in my notebook, and in the forefront of my mind (so I don’t have to slap my forehead the next time.) Print a copy of the list below for your own use, and add a couple of your own to the comments section below so we can all benefit and possibly avoid our next “V8 moment”.
I could’ve started with a question.- I could’ve said “before we get started…” and recapped our last conversation.
- I could’ve asked them about their priorities for the project.
- I could’ve asked them about the challenges they’re facing.
- I could’ve asked them about their past experience with the service.
- I could’ve asked about what they did the last time they had this problem.
- I could’ve asked them what they would do differently based on their last experience.
- I could’ve asked them what has changed since their last experience.
- I could’ve told a story about happy customers using the service.
- I could’ve given one great example of a user success.
- I could’ve offered information of value to their situation.
- I could’ve asked what they envisioned as an ideal outcome.
- I could’ve talked about the process of putting a solution into action.
- I could’ve talked about the results they would get.
- I could’ve suggested a next step to our conversation.
