Friday, October 11, 2024

A “Thank You for Your Time” Alternative


Many vendors offer the phrase, “Thank you for your time…” when starting or completing a meeting with a prospect, often adding “I know your time is valuable…” This is courteous but positions the vendor beneath the prospect in terms of relative importance.

 

A very successful salesperson (thanks, Carol!) once shared the following advice that I continue to apply today:

 

She asked me, “Isn’t your time just as valuable as the prospect’s?” I responded, “Of course it is…”

 

She then offered a better way to start and close meetings. She suggested saying, “I’m glad we are [or were] able to invest this time together today…”

 

This positions both parties as equals, regardless of whether you are speaking with an executive, middle manager, staff member or system administrator. What a delightful idea!

 

You’ll find many more tips and practices on the Resources pages of our website at https://GreatDemo.com and (of course!) in the Great Demo! and Doing Discovery books. Enjoy!

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