"To the man who only has a hammer, everything he encounters begins to look like a nail."
- Abraham Maslow
Is not a big secret that I LOVE sports. I find that sporting analogies provide EXCEPTIONAL relative situations to that of business. One in particular is the idea of ADAPTABILITY. In sports terms, "taking what the defense will give you." Let me explain…
In sports, there is always a weak point in a defense, whether it is a gap, a slow or injured player or just a lack of belief that the offense can move the ball into a certain position or area. There is ALWAYS somewhere to attack offensively with a greater ease than other areas. The same is TRUE in business.
As business people, we often focus solely on the one thing we know and instead of being adaptive; we try to "hammer a bolt into steel." Just because you know the hammer best does not mean it will work. Clients have many needs. Some easier to identify than others. Some relate to your service or product, some do not. Yet, there is ALWAYS a need!
2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
What if you were able to SOLVE the needs of a client, even if it was not with your product or service? Do you think that they would be more WILLING to listen to how you believe your product or service can aid them?
Solving the challenges of others creates LOYALTY and TRUST. These are two of the most, if not the only two, important characteristics of a GREAT client. A client that will BUY at a premium, REFER consistently and LISTEN, rather than speak. Sounds like a pretty good client, huh?
If you are a technology provider and find that your client needs a new commercial property, rather than try to sell a new server, why not help them solve the property issue FIRST? Them once the big nasty problem (or so they believe) is out of the way, you will have EARNED the right to solve all their needs, manage their entire network and ask a price that is above that of the other IT guys that SAT BACK and WATCHED.
That is how you win… by taking what the defense will give you (until you can strike where you need to)!
Cheers,
Zach
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