Fearing the Wrong Dangers

You fear the wrong dangers.

You fear asking for commitments: Your fear of asking for commitments is based on your belief that your prospective client will say “no” and that you are unprepared to respond appropriately. Your fear of asking for commitments may also  stem from the belief that you have not created enough value to deserve the commitment.

You should not fear asking for the commitments you need; you should fear losing an opportunity because you didn’t ask.

Fear of discussing price: Your fear of price discussions is based on your belief that your prospective client is going to ask for—or demand—a discounted price. This fear is based on your belief that price will cost you your opportunity, as well as you’re being unprepared to handle that discussion.

You shouldn’t fear discussing price. You should fear not having the pricing discussion and not reiterating the value that you create. By avoiding this conversation you make a loss on price more likely.

Fear of asking for referrals: You fear asking for referrals because you believe it makes you self-oriented. This “ask” in no way benefits your client, in your mind anyway. But the truth is different.

By not asking for referrals you are depriving your client of the opportunity to reciprocate for the value that you create by sharing you with other people for whom you can also create value.

Fear of showing them the big solution: You fear that by showing your clients what they really need that the solution will be too big, too expensive, and that you will frighten them off.

What you should fear is not creating enough value, not creating a strategic enough initiative to be worth pursuing, and playing too low. You should fear being thought of as transactional.

We sometimes don’t fear the true dangers enough and we fear the minor dangers too much.