Are You Stuck In Your Story?

Have you ever been so intent on achieving your purpose that you gave no thought to the other person being affected by your needs?

Being so focused on your own goals that you are unable to hear those of anyone else - is the act of being stuck in your story. This is the exact opposite stance of relationship building and selling and will greatly limit your success.

In order to build and maintain a happy, thriving clientele, you must listen first to hear what the other person is saying and what their true needs are. Occasionally we are each guilty of being stuck in our individual story, but it is the wise business person who will recognize their guilt, apologize to her prospects and clients in order to move forward.

Being stuck in your story limits success:

1. Achievement of your goals will be hindered
2. You will annoy everyone with whom you come into contact
3. Sales will dwindle

But what if you are selling to someone who is themselves stuck in their story? What will you do?

As a businessperson you need to recognize the circumstance and take the lead when your clients and prospects are stuck in their story. If they do not recognize their request is something you cannot easily fill, then it is up to you to remind them.

With your professional demeanor remind your clientele that you must stick to your timetable in order to do a thorough job. This will best demonstrate the value you bring to them.

If you were to instead allow your client to make you jump through hoops, you are unwittingly telling them you are not worthy of better treatment or of the fees you charge. You must maintain professional control.

The mere act of setting a time and date is part of the negotiation process. You want to appear to be flexible and easy to work with, but at the same time you must be strong enough to not be pushed around.

For most people, being stuck in their own story is a matter of lack of awareness this they are guilty of doing this, or not being business savvy enough to realize it does not move their goals forward. In either case, your leadership skill required for pointing out what is doable will be appreciated by a reasonable other party.

If the other party is unreasonable and will not give up their position, then you will need to decide if life is too short to continue dealing with this individual.

The advice of this author is if you are the one stuck in your story, whether you are buying or selling, the moment you'recognize your error, stop to admit the error of your way to yourself and then apologize immediately to the other party. This will put you back on a corrected course.

This past weekend, I was a client so focused on achieving my personal goal that the pressing schedule of the service provider did not enter into my mind. It was not until 24 hours later that I recognized the need to back down, apologize and reschedule. The other party was much relieved and very appreciative.

By building your value, you will build your income and your business.