Author: Renée Taylor
Published: 11 April 2025
Even the most brilliant professionals find meeting with a new prospect stressful. Newcomers and experienced alike make a common mistake when meeting prospects – they jump into solution mode.
It’s only natural. After all, finding solutions is what they do. But making the connection with a new client that will result in work requires a different set of skills. It usually goes like this. The professional (organised as usual) has prepared for the meeting – gathered some insights, researched the business, looked up the prospect on LinkedIn, and prepared ideas on which services and skills could be most relevant. The meeting starts well, and the prospect starts telling the professional about their problem. The professional jumps in, saying “We do that,” rushing to a solution and explaining how good they are at that, the awards they’ve won in the area etc etc.
At this point the focus of the meeting has changed from the client to the professional. The professional is now doing all the talking (or should we say selling) and is no longer listening. They may never know where that conversation would have gone if the professional had just stopped to take a breath and kept listening.
The professional has missed many opportunities – they’ve discovered one need, but it may not have been the most important or urgent. There may be many. They’ve missed the opportunity to develop trust, make a deep connection, and truly understand the client’s needs, or even fears.
An even greater risk is that the professional makes assumptions about the problem and its solution and may miss the real issue completely. The prospect feels unheard and sees the professional as not the right person for the job.
If the professional had listened for longer, they may have discovered the real underlying client issue and the all-important context in which it occurred – the difference between symptoms and root cause. By asking probing questions they could have revealed the client's true priorities, pain points, and desired outcomes, rather than assuming they already know. This would have had the added benefit of establishing credibility and expertise through insightful questions.
Then they might have been able to give a couple of well-chosen examples of similar problems well solved and reassure the client they were the right person for the job. And when they followed up after the meeting, they could send only the relevant answers to questions, rather than bombarding the client with multiple brochures or credentials they have no time or interest to read. This is the difference between sending what they want to read and what the professional might want to tell them. Chances are, they won’t read the latter.
By holding back, listening, and asking questions, they’ve created a real opportunity to show – not just tell – what they can do. And this time, it’s the client who’s listening.
Author: Renée Taylor
Published: 11 April 2025
Even the most brilliant professionals find meeting with a new prospect stressful. Newcomers and experienced alike make a common mistake when meeting prospects – they jump into solution mode.
It’s only natural. After all, finding solutions is what they do. But making the connection with a new client that will result in work requires a different set of skills.
It usually goes like this. The professional (organised as usual) has prepared for the meeting – gathered some insights, researched the business, looked up the prospect on LinkedIn, and prepared ideas on which services and skills could be most relevant.
The meeting starts well, and the prospect starts telling the professional about their problem. The professional jumps in, saying “We do that,” rushing to a solution and explaining how good they are at that, the awards they’ve won in the area etc etc.
At this point the focus of the meeting has changed from the client to the professional. The professional is now doing all the talking (or should we say selling) and is no longer listening. They may never know where that conversation would have gone if the professional had just stopped to take a breath and kept listening.
The professional has missed many opportunities – they’ve discovered one need, but it may not have been the most important or urgent. There may be many. They’ve missed the opportunity to develop trust, make a deep connection, and truly understand the client’s needs, or even fears.
An even greater risk is that the professional makes assumptions about the problem and its solution and may miss the real issue completely. The prospect feels unheard and sees the professional as not the right person for the job.
If the professional had listened for longer, they may have discovered the real underlying client issue and the all-important context in which it occurred – the difference between symptoms and root cause. By asking probing questions they could have revealed the client's true priorities, pain points, and desired outcomes, rather than assuming they already know. This would have had the added benefit of establishing credibility and expertise through insightful questions.
Then they might have been able to give a couple of well-chosen examples of similar problems well solved and reassure the client they were the right person for the job. And when they followed up after the meeting, they could send only the relevant answers to questions, rather than bombarding the client with multiple brochures or credentials they have no time or interest to read. This is the difference between sending what they want to read and what the professional might want to tell them. Chances are, they won’t read the latter.
By holding back, listening, and asking questions, they’ve created a real opportunity to show – not just tell – what they can do. And this time, it’s the client who’s listening.
