Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Survey to find the pain

A speaker was about to conduct a seminar which she had done more than 100 times. I asked how many people typically attended her sessions, and what percentage connect with her afterward and hire her.

"Not enough...if I'm lucky one or two." I asked if she was happy with that ratio..."absolutely not."

The audience was typically in an attentive mode, taking notes and smiling. They were pleased with the presenter and the content. Overall they were quite comfortable with the setting and even connected with other attendees that had gathered. She soon learned that the audience's "comfort" level was the problem.

She decided to tweak the presentation. She began to survey the attendees about their current circumstances and how it was effecting them. The audience began interacting with the presenter because the survey was exposing their discomfort (pain). Some went so far as to plea for help. The dynamics of the presentation had changed, and more attendees wanted help to eliminate the pain.

Entrepreneurs often make presentations as part of their marketing plan. Presentations that lack true connection with the audience will yield minimal results. Resist doing all the speaking and the audience doing all the listening. That's called politics. Engage, survey, uncover pain and build trust. Customers will be attracted to you.

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