The Accountability Coach
Aim For What You Want!
(Six tips for conveying your competence)
Being competent is an important factor in building trust. People seldom believe you’re competent based on what you say about your credentials, experience, investment philosophy, or background. They believe you’re competent based on your behavior. As essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “What you do shouts so loudly in my ears I can’t hear a word you’re saying.”
1. Competent professionals ask good questions.
John Sculley, former CEO of Apple says, “The solutions are often obvious once you get the questions right.” Successful people measure your competence by the quality of your questions.
My favorite questions to ask in the client interview (with prospects and clients) begins with, “What’s important about success to you?” Of course, there is a stage setting before you blurt out this question.
Your prospects can tell you are competent because they do all the talking about what’s important to them (their values), goals, where they are now, and where they want to be.
2. Competent professionals discover all the necessary information in the first interview.
Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice. Incompetent professionals give advice on what the prospect/client should buy without knowing all the details first.
Your prospects and clients can tell you are competent by the questions you ask and because you expect them to tell you the truth.
3. Competent professionals have a system for helping their clients.
Competent professionals have a system that repeats itself with every prospect and client. Lee Trevino once remarked, “The best swing is one that repeats. I used to hit a one iron 260 yards through a doorway. Now I can hit it through a keyhole.”
4. Competent professionals make it simple.
The more successful or “sophisticated” your client, the more they appreciate simplicity.
5. Competent professionals are thorough.
Competent professionals are obsessively thorough.
6. Competent professionals are totally present.
A speaker coach, Max Dixon, asks, “Can you show up ready to be no place else?” This means asking a question and being completely present for the answer, not thinking about the next question or the next comment.
Can you show up ready to be no place else? The competent professional does.
In summary, you have to be competent. Then your clients must be able to see, hear, and experience your competence from the very first moment they interact with you. Before they discover your true competence by working with you they must believe you are competent in order to give you their business in the first place.
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© Anne M. Bachrach. All rights reserved.
Anne M. Bachrach is known as The Accountability Coach™. She has over 23 years of experience training and coaching. Business owners and entrepreneurs who utilize Anne’s proven systems and processes work less, make more money, and have a more balanced and successful life. Anne is the author of the books, Excuses Don’t Count; Results Rule!, and Live Life with No Regrets; How the Choices We Make Impact Our Lives, No Excuses!, and The Work Life Balance Emergency Kit. Join the FREE Silver Inner Circle Membership today and receive 10% off on all products and services, in addition to having access to assessments and high-value resources to help you achieve your goals so you can experience a more balanced and successful life (https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/coaching-store/inner-circle-store/). Get Your Free High-Content Book from Amazon today: 10 Power Tips for Getting Focused, Organized, and Achieving Your Goals Now, by going to https://www.amazon.com/Power-Getting-Focused-Organized-Achieving-ebook/dp/B01GIL5WJ8/
