We all want the same things…no, I don’t mean power, success and money, but those are nice to have! I mean deeper wants. We all want to feel understood, respected, valued, smart, and loved. As a leader and a business developer it is critical to operate from this basic awareness about the people you are dealing with. In Seal the Deal I wrote about this concept in terms of networking and customer service…
“It’s about keeping in mind, as you’re building relationships, that there are three things that people want. People want to be loved. People want to be acknowledged. And people want to be taken care of. Being taken care of can mean being attended to physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, or simply being heard or being understood. Part of being taken care of is being well-served. In business this translates into providing excellent customer service, or exceeding expectations. But, in general, I have yet to find people who would argue with me that they don’t want those three things. They want to be respected or loved, they want to be acknowledged, and they want to be taken care of. So in networking, as you’re connecting with people, look for ways to do those things.”
In sales, you want to seek to provide an experience for your prospect of feeling understood, respected, valued, smart, taken care of (served) and acknowledged.
As a leader, you will develop motivated and committed followers by seeking to serve those who follow you, and using empathetic listening to have them feel understood, respected, valued, smart, cared for and recognized.