Curiosity Is The Secret To Doubling Your Clients

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to kickstart the conversation. I'm your host, Catharine O'Leary. And today, I just wanted to take a few minutes and talk a little bit about curiosity. I truly believe that curiosity is the secret to doubling your clients and doubling your sales. Let's take a step back. Curiosity is the desire to know, According to Webster's Dictionary, its inquisitive interest in others concerns, or intellectual interests leading to inquiry. It's, it's asking somebody who they are or how they are, is asking somebody you know, where they live, or what they do for a living or if they have kids. You know, how, how soccer went last night? You know, it's just, it's, it's a way to, for us to connect with people and show interest in what's going on in their lives. And I, I do believe that all good current conversations start with a question. It is what I truly believe. So, you know, when we, when we first meet somebody, we ask a bunch of questions, you know, where are you from? What do you do for a living? You go for a job, you ask things like, you know, what's the salary? What's the roles and responsibilities? Where's the lunch room? When we start businesses, we tend to skip over that very important get to know you, phase of our clients, we have the tendency to make assumptions, instead of asking questions, we are excited to get out there and be helping people and serving people and solving problems that we know we can help solve. So we make assumptions that everyone that has the problem that we as coaches or clients or consultants, as businesses as corporations, that, you know, everyone that has a problem that we can solve is automatically our ideal client. I'm curious, though, is that really true? Is everyone that has the problem that, you know, we can solve really our ideal client? I mean, do we know enough about their specific problems and situation? Do they know enough about us and our product? And our solution to the problem? Does our solution even fit what they're looking for? Does it meet their expectations? Are they are they able to intake that solution? I mean, have we even asked, more importantly, a lot of us have longer programs? I mean, some programs are fairly, you know, quick, maybe four weeks, maybe six weeks, some of them can last a year, some of them can last three years? Do we know each other well enough to support each other? I mean, do we get along? are we aligned? In what the solution can deliver? And can we do business together? I do believe that sometimes we rush to serve our clients because, you know, we're out there, we're ready to go. We've we've developed these solutions, and we truly believe in them. And that's amazing. But we tend to miss a step of asking questions to know, an individual situation, you know, what our clients actually need in the moment? I mean, we all know that not every client is ready for our solutions when we show up in their lives. So do we do a good enough job of really understanding exactly what solution or what situation? Our clients are really in? You know, do we do we also miss the opportunity to educate our clients on our expertise and our solutions? I do believe that when we stopped to ask questions, and really listen, you know, when we when we ask those questions, even if it's a poll or a Ask Me Anything post, or even in a podcast, you know, when we're asking for feedback, are we really listening? And are we being, you know, true to replying to those answers and to listening to what our clients are telling us because that's truth be told, that's where the magic happens. When we are able to meet our clients where they're at, in the situation that they're dealing with, with the problem that we solve. That's where we can really connect. That's where we can build out of the gate, the relationship and the, you know, the raving fans that we all you know, aspire to, to attract to our businesses. That's when our solutions are able to perfectly meet our ideal clients, you know exactly where they need us, where we can attract the best and release the rest So, you know, that's in that way if we can make sure that we are understanding our ideal clients 3am question. So what is that 3am question that our ideal clients are waking up are and you know, struggling with or maybe it's a desire, they just wish for, you know, a certain solution or a certain outcome that we can help them with, if we really understand the question that they're asking themselves at 3am. You know, what, you know, what is going on? And here's what's really important about that it has to be in their language, you know, are we curious enough to go back into the client's mentality, and, you know, the situation that they're in and understand how they are expressing themselves in their language. Nobody has ever woken up ever in the history have ever woken up and thought, oh, my gosh, I just, you know, need, you know, a client attraction system that attracts better leads or higher quality leads, nobody wakes up thinking that, right? They wake up thinking, I need more clients, or I wish I could make sure that when I get on the phone with people, they are the right clients, for me, and I'm the right solution for them. So when you really do understand that 3am question in, in your ideal clients language, that's when you can start a conversation with questions. That's when you can attract people into your world to say, Hey, I get you, I hear you, I understand you. And that's what you know, that's what everybody wants, they want to be heard. And they want somebody to help them with this, this challenge or this desire that they're trying to, to achieve. So when you start with their language with when you start with their 3am, question and go from there, you're already well ahead of the game. And then, you know, stop and think what's the coffee chat that we need to have? What's the next question? Right, it doesn't stop with just one question. You can't just say, you know, hey, do you want to go from from six to seven figures? Here's the solution, you haven't honestly earned the right to, to propose that solution. At this point in time, you don't really know exactly where the client is, in their, in their situation, you don't know, necessarily, you know, you know, what their journey is, what systems they have in place, what challenges that they are, you know, currently facing? That's a big question around, you know, what's stopping you from going from six to seven figures as an example? There's a lot that can go on with that particular question. There's, you know, some mindset, challenges that might have to be overcome. There's systems that have to be in place, there's a team that probably needs to be talked about. There's some leadership, you know, conversations that likely need to be had, there's a lot going on with that particular question. So the way that your solution might fit the person that you're talking to, you know, have you had, do you know, enough about them to say, you know, what, I can help you with this, because I understand that you're going through this and you want help with, you know, maybe it's marketing, or maybe it's sales? Maybe it's it, whatever it is, but have you asked enough questions yet? Have you gotten curious, have you thought through, you know, where are you at, at this point in time, you know, ask them the questions of, you know, how long have you been in business? What, you know, what team do you have in place? What is your, you know, your sales process? What is your marketing challenges, you know, what are some of the struggles that you are currently facing? Because everyone's going to be a little bit different, I mean, every situation is going to be customized. And are you curious enough to kind of dig into that and have some fun with it and, and get to know your, your ideal clients a little bit better, so that, that, you know, they are able to express themselves, you are able to meet them where they're at, and you are able to then go forward with a solution. Like, you know, hey, you know, what, I've heard you, I understand the problem that you're going through, I understand the the situation that you personally are in, and, you know, like, let's talk because we can, you know, I you know, I have solutions that