Had a huge day today. Three coaching appoinments, taught a bunch of web coders, programmers and designers how to pitch with great presentation skills. And went to a big meeting where I got to ‘pitch’ my own training services to board members of an international bank.
It was the pitch meeting that was interesting. Normally I get over-anxious about scouting for corporate training jobs and work my way through. Truth is – I rarely have to do them. The work just comes to me.
On this occasion I put on my best suit so I could ‘sell’ the training, and myself, to the company. What I did next is a great tip for any meeting when scoping out more work.
You’ve probably heard of the GROW model. I want to fully credit John Whitmore for this stroke of genius. I can’t remember exactly which questions I used, but here is a great list to help you get started.
As you read through these questions, change them to fit the scenario you find yourself in:
1. Is the job already signed off and they just want to meet you, the trainer?.
2. Is this the first scoping meeting and they are meeting a number of trainers/training companies?
3. Are they already clear on what they want to do and they want some help? , or…
4. Have they already decided they will do it in house but are just using you to get more ideas (sorry, it happens)
Now be warned, a client can smell a salesperson a mile off. By remaining in “Coaching Mode” you are probably going to build a better relationship, sense of trust, and get to the heart of the matter more quickly.
Goal:
- What would you like to discuss?
- What would you like to get out of our discussion?
- What is an important issue for you right now?
- What is a challenge for you/your team currently?
- What is the area under your responsibility with which you are least satisfied?
Reality:
- Tell me what’s happening with regards to…
- What do you think are the reasons for this?
- What have you done so far around this?
Options:
- If anything was possible what would you do?
- What would be a good first step?
- What could you do to change this situation? What else?
- What are the potential risks, pitfall, what problems do you think you’ll encounter?
Will Do:
- How will you know when this training is successful?
- What will the ‘……..team/department/unit etc…..look and sound like at the end of this program?
- What resources and support will you need before, during and after the program.
And the end of the day this model helped me book a change management training for the bank. It got me through three cracking coaching calls with great outcomes for my clients and the web developers even wanted to do a trade with me on how to use wordpress (for the site your on right now)
I would really love to hear any great questions you have used to let potential clients know you’re listening and interested in helping them solve their problems. (and hey, if you do it right, they might even hire you:)
