Self-coaching can be a powerful tool to improve your business development performance. When you come out of a meeting (or finish a phone call) which went especially well, before diving into the email or getting on with returning your calls, pause for a couple of minutes.
Analyse your encounter:
- What happened?
- What did you do to develop (or increase) rapport?
- How did you establish/confirm your credibility?
- How did you ensure that things got off to a good start?
- What techniques helped you discover the other party’s needs and objectives?
- What did you say or do that was especially effective in distilling their concerns and priorities?
- What techniques did you draw on to illustrate your credentials and capabilities? Anecdotes? Thumb-nail case studies? Displaying industry knowledge?
- What strategies worked for you in conveying your willingness to help?
- Why did the interpersonal dynamics work so well this time?
- What can you take from this to apply in future?
Self-coaching sessions will along these lines - even three to five minutes at a time - will work to improve your hit rate and make great performances a habit rather than an accident.
The next eTip will cover self-coaching for those times when things don’t go as you’d hope.
|
