This week’s question from our portal “Ask Us Anything” comes from Leslie.
I realized I have a boundary issue that comes up during coaching calls, and probably during my sales calls as well.
I’ll have, say, 30 minutes scheduled with a person or a 1-hour call scheduled. We’ll finish the call early, I’ll answer all their questions, and I’ll be like, “Well, we’ve got 10 more minutes left… is there anything else you’d like to cover?” or they’ll come up with more things to talk about.
Do I need to use up the full hour to make sure they’re getting their money’s worth?
Great question!
This is a common issue we run into in the coaching industry. People think they’re paying for a half-hour call or an hour call.
A lot of times, I’ll give them the answer they need in the first 5 minutes, and then they’ll want to sit around for another half hour and just ask me a bunch of BS questions.
It’s like… you’re not paying for half an hour. You’re paying for a result. You’re paying for an answer. I gave you the answer; now let’s get back to work. I’ve got stuff to do. You’ve got stuff to do.
This goes back to what people value. Some people buy based on the cost of things, not based on the value of the outcome they’ll get.
Some people buy based on, “How much money am I saving?” “Am I getting a good deal?” “Am I getting all the value I can get for the amount of money I paid?” They’ll sit around and make things up in a half-hour conversation, because the conversation was only 15 minutes.
They think there’s more value they can get from it.
That’s total nonsense.
I would imagine it’s the same issue for an attorney, doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or anybody else in a professional field.
It’s not about coming up with additional questions to answer. You’re not paying for time. You’re paying for an outcome. Many people don’t realize this. But that’s a boundary you have to draw.
When it comes to sales conversations, you can set a boundary there as well.
If the person decides to buy from you within 20 minutes, you don’t need to spend a full hour with them just to keep the conversation going.
If you decide within 5 minutes that the person is not the right client for you, you don’t have to spend 25 additional minutes talking with them; you can kindly end the call.
David
P.S. If you want get good at drawing in clients who buy based on value (not based on discounts or saving money), I highly recommend you join me for my upcoming sales training program, “The Matrix,” which starts on April 2nd. This program is for business owners and entrepreneurs who want to master the art of sales and become completely confident in being able to influence a person to make a buying decision.
To learn more about The Matrix program and join, click here.
