With four months under our belt in MCO Performance, we have partnered with over 15 organisations. Working predominantly with senior management and sales teams what we have found is this – whether you are selling the business’ vision or the product/service to the end user, the key to winning people and getting their buy in is making sure they know that they can trust you.
Trust is widely acknowledged as the foundation for every relationship. The equity of a brand is the trust it creates for customers. The importance of personal brand and being trusted has always been incredibly important however now we have multiple platforms where we need to manage our brand and image. People want to do business with personable experts. High performers want to work with leaders they trust, respect, and admire and customers are no different.
The proof point of your brand, the products, and/or services you sell is your leaders and your people.
Stephen Covey explores the concept of the emotional bank account and the need to make regular deposits. This builds trust. Plus, if you have enough in the emotional bank account, when something inevitably goes wrong you have enough to keep the relationship strong and rebuild.
Marie-Claire and I set up MCO Performance based on a 2-rule framework:
As we enter our fifth month of business these rules have stood us in great stead.
Guaranteed whether you are the intern or the CEO you will be asked:
“What do you do?” Or at the very least to introduce yourself.
When we were responsible for ticket sales to 300k patrons per year at Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall we had a golden rule… if you get the same question three times, it is worth creating a canned response that can be tailored.
It is shocking how many people have never taken the time to reflect on the fundamental question of “What do you do?” and craft a great response that hooks the person or the audience into wanting to know more. It is often left to chance.
We have a 5-point system for the perfect elevator pitch/introduction. This gives you a canned response framework ready to be tailored to each situation.
We practice what we preach, so here is mine:
I’m Oonagh O’Reilly, co-founder and director of MCO Performance.
Our clients typically have ambitious growth plans and want a highly motivated team, committed to strategy execution with clarity of expectation at all levels of the business.
Using a consultative approach we inherit our clients’ KPIs and co-design high-energy, practical workshops with the overarching aim of getting participants aligned and committed to taking action.
Following a sales kick-off in March for one of our clients, the team hit their April income target a week ahead of time. The new financial year started with a bang!
Let’s connect on LinkedIn and I will send a few dates for a 30-minute Teams call to discuss what positive action you want to drive within your organisation and how MCO Performance can support you.
The secret sauce to selling is firstly to build trust then it is all about action!
Don’t confuse activity with action…
It’s easy to be busy and convince/fool yourself that you’re making progress. This might sound like “I’m talking to the right companies”, or “I’m researching/strategising how to get into a specific sector”.
Activity makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But you’re just preparing to get something done.
“Never mistake activity for achievement.” – John Wooden
Action is what delivers the results not ‘busyness’! Take action and set up the meeting, ask for the business, and get the opportunity to handle the objections there and then.
Time to take action!
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