Do you have a list of prospects you haven’t gotten around to contacting?
There is a term for that called cognitive dissonance. What is that and how do you get past it?
My experience with missed opportunities
After a prospecting activity like an open house, I would write notes to the people I met and add a reminder to my calendar to call them at a later date – let’s say Wednesday.
Wednesday would come, and I would have all the greatest of intentions to follow up as planned. While reaching for the phone, I hesitated thinking “I aught to have the hot sheet.” So off I go to look for the hot sheet which led to another activity, which led to another activity, and the day ended with no phone calls being made. “That’s ok there is always tomorrow,” I’d think.
Thursday would turn out to be a duplication of Wednesday’s distractions and excuses. By Friday I rationalize that they certainly didn’t remember me now and instead focus my attention to preparing for Sunday’s open house.
So what happened? Why weren’t the calls made?
I allowed my internal voice to question my actions. “They are going to think I am pushy”. My brain was coming up with any excuse to avoid making the phone calls.
This is what cognitive dissonance is. Most of us experience this in some form.
How did I get around this conflict?
I found a tool that helped me to resist the temptation to put off making those phone calls.
When I need to make a phone call, I grab a sheet of paper and answer these questions:
- What was important to this person?
- What are some ice breaker questions I can ask to start a conversation? What other houses did you see on Sunday? What did you like about them?
- What questions can I ask that I can discover their needs and motivations?
- What is the value I have for them? How can I help them?
- What action might I suggest they take to fill their need?
This quick activity switches your brain from thinking “Ugh I have to call this person” to “How can I be of value to this person?”
You must think: “This is a person that has needs, and I can help them.”
After the phone call is complete, jot down some notes about:
- What needs did I discover?
- What should my next actions be?
This will help you get into the positive mentality of “helping someone” vs the pressure of “trying to win a client”.
Tape a tiny sign “They Need Me” on the back of your phone receiver to remind yourself next time you are making calls, you are helping.