Be a Detective

I've been working with The SuperSkill concepts for years, but I'm still surprised at how we all fall into the same patterns of behavior when trying to attain a goal. Our natural tendency is to focus entirely on ourselves, our own wants, needs and desires. And we pretty much ignore the interests of others involved.

This is not to say that we are, by our nature, self-centered or inconsiderate. Only that we seem to believe the path to achievement lies entirely on our own efforts.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In virtually every situation, your success depends on -- no, requires -- the agreement others. And in order to gain their cooperation, they also need to feel that their desires are being realized.

So what can you do about it?

Become a detective. Learn as much as you can about the people whose cooperation and support you need. Who are they? What's important to them? What to they want? What do they fear?

I was invited to participate in a sales-related conference call yesterday at the marketing communications company I work with. The call was with a young executive at a major corporation, and our objective was to get a face-to-face meeting. The host of the call , a colleage from my company, knew the exec's name and title.

I asked, "Is that it? Don't you know anything else?"

He didn't, and I was suddenly "inspired" to do a little quick detective work, twenty minutes before the call was to begin. I Googled our prospect, made a quick call to a colleague, searched his corporate website for press releases related to his department. In fifteen minutes I knew enough about him to at leat hold a meaningful conversation, reference successful initiatives he had been part of (and related work that our company had done), make mention of his last position with the company and most important, briefly discuss his interest (well documented on the Internet) in advanced technology solutions for marketing communications challenges.

We got the face-to-face meeting.

If we just take a little time to focus on what others want and need, we can often be the one that provides it to them -- and in the process, get exactly what we're looking for. Great marketers like Nike and Apple know this. It works for them. It will work for you.

KH