Don’t Assume Anything About Your Prospect – Ask Questions Instead

 Have you ever totally ‘messed up’ a meeting or conversation with a prospect? I mean, it seemed so promising. And then you got into your car to drive home (or you hung up the phone) and you thought to yourself, “man, I totally messed this one up”. What the heck happened?”

Could it have been that you have been “assuming” things about your prospect?

Someone once gave me the definition of “assume” and it’s not the one found in the dictionary or Wikipedia.  It goes like this …

ASS-U-ME = When you assume something you are making an ASS out of U and ME.

Yes, it’s a bit strong language and I normally don’t talk that way but … it hits the point spot on. Don’t assume things about people. Especially those you don’t know or have just met.

When we assume something about our prospects we come to false conclusions which can lead to misunderstandings, non-understanding and mis-communication. And that messes everything up.

Also, how often do we say to people, “I know exactly what you’re thinking?”

How can we know what someone is thinking? We only know what we ourselves are thinking. We could assume (there’s that word again) what someone may be thinking based on certain circumstances or our own experiences, but then again, that would get us exactly to what I mentioned above.

So the best thing to do when meeting a prospect for the first time, either in person or on the phone is to ASK QUESTIONS. Ask lots of questions.

The more questions we ask the better we get to know our prospect and the better we can assess what his or her needs are.

That’s what we’re there for.  That’s our job. To find out what our prospects problems are and then find a solution to fix them. We can’t do that by assuming but only by asking questions.

So do yourself a favor, don’t assume anything.

To your success,

Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker

P.S. You don’t have to share this on Twitter or Facebook. But if you do and if you vote for it, I surely appreciate it. Thank you!