When it comes to games and sports, including the Olympics, what really interests me are the interviews with the competitors before and after the events, and especially when the interviewer has TIME to ask questions.
When the interviews are short, the words that come out of the athlete’s mouths tend to be carefully rehearsed, factual sound bites. They are like the words of politicians who say the things they think we want them to say.
When the interviews are longer the protective armour and carefully manicured exterior that has been meticulously built up by coach and athlete disappears. The REAL authentic person comes out… The QUALITY of the interview significantly increases… AND, you get to see more of WHO the athlete is.
If you think about it, it’s probably a good metaphor of most people’s lives. Most people in my experience hide behind a carefully rehearsed exterior they have created to demonstrate that all is relatively well… when in fact it is not. If your questions are short and without depth, you’ll get short without depth answers.
However, if you spend time finding out and listening to what is behind this armour plate (it’s not as thick as you or they may think it is) you’ll get to see, feel, hear and understand the real person. And if you get to see the real person they will feel it. And if they feel it, you’ll get to have a real relationship, a real partner and a real customer. That is a real guarantee!!
Going slower is the FASTEST way I know of to build lifelong relationships
To your SUCCESS…Michael
Reprinted with permission from Michael Oliver, Natural Selling® Sales Training http://www.NaturalSelling.com
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