Great book!

Reading is greatly underrated in my view. There are so many things that you can pick up from reading, even in books you really don’t enjoy. It is always worth having your personal view of the world challenged by an author! Right now I am in the middle of:  “What got you here, won’t get you there” by Marshall Goldsmith

As I intimated there are things I disagree with in most books and there are a few here. There is a lot of material of great interest in this book though, much of it having direct relevance to small business marketing. Perhaps the most important nugget I have come across so far is the notion that:

Being smart is a turn on, telling people how smart you are is a turn off (I paraphrase!)

Are you showing off too much?

As a business owner you are probably the world’s foremost expert on your company (I hope that is so). In addition you are likely to be extremely well informed on topics that affect your business and/or the field in which you work. Again, this is an assumption when you own a business, you should be an expert in what you do. It is likely you are passionate about what you do and the difference you want to make.

It can be difficult to reign in that enthusiasm, especially when a prospect demonstrates some interest in what you do. It is very tempting to dazzle them with your expertise. Most of the time we end up talking too much, and talking about ourselves, overtly demonstrating who expert we are.

It’s about them, not you

So how do people get to see and experience how expert you are? It seems counter intuitive to say “talk less” but that is part of it. The other part of it is : “Ask questions”. When you are an expert it is relatively easy to ask perceptive, probing questions. Anything that gets your prospect to talk about him or herself and their challenges is what you are aiming for. Ask them what their challenges are, ask them their opinions and you will find they open up much more.

 Also, they will come away from the encounter thinking much more of you and your expertise than they would have if you spent half an hour telling them about how great you are. It really works! Although it is simple, it isn’t necessarily easy - as Goldsmith writes in his book, there is a difference. With practice, and by listening closely to what others say, you will find that natural curiosity will help you pose perceptive questions.

I encourage reading generally and “What got you here..” is shaping up to be a good read specifically. Here is a link to his blog for anyone interested : Marshall Goldsmith blog