You don’t achieve influence by what you say; you get it by what others experience when dealing with you.
I recently taught a 2 day consulting skills course to training and human resources staff of an 180,000 employee organization. They cited a lack of communication, unclear direction, and managing stakeholder expectations as their top 3 challenges.
So as we neared the end of day 1, I asked, “What topic would you like to know more about?”
Two topics were shouted out at breakneck speed:
- How to overcome resistance / increase persuasion
- How to be more of a business partner
It was at this moment when I whispered to myself, “I got this!” I rose from my seat, calmly walked over to a blank flip chart, and I asked them, “Are you ready to be amazed?”
Despite having minds bulging with information, they sat up and leaned forward with the eagerness of a child waiting to open birthday gifts.
That’s when I gave them the ONE question that, when answered, would enable them to build massive influence, achieve breakthrough results, and get repeat stakeholder investment every single time. I’m sharing it with you now.
Ask your stakeholder / customer / client this question:
What problems do you have that are URGENT, widely SHARED, and EXPENSIVE if left unresolved?
In my more than 2 decades serving in consulting and advisory roles, I’ve discovered people act on urgent things. People pay for problems that are widely shared. And people hate expensive.
So if you want to build influence and overcome resistance, do one simple thing. Develop a laser focus in hunting for your customer’s problems that meet all three criteria – urgent, shared, and expensive.
Then take the list and work like hell to develop or find solutions for them. If you do, you will always get budget dollars and staff. It’s that simple.
CONCLUSION
I often say the ultimate sophistication lies in simplicity. You now have the ONE stunningly simple tool that will enable you to become the person no one can live without. Start using it today. Your clients will thank you for it. I guarantee it.
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