The most important question you can ask yourself to win business is ‘so what?’
When you’re talking to a client, imagine they could hold up a giant sign with the words ‘so what?’ scrawled across it in thick black marker pen at any point.
When you’re talking, your client is always thinking, ‘how does this help me?’
And if you’re talking too much about your company or service, or what you can do, then they will be thinking, ‘so what?’
So always anticipate what your client’s thinking. See the world from their point of view.
If you can’t simply explain why something you do helps the client achieve what they want to achieve, cut it from your presentation and say it in clients in meetings.
A great hack for this is any time you mention a feature of your product or service, create the habit of always following it up with a benefit to the client. Use phrases to bridge the two, such as ‘the benefit to you is’, or ‘which means you will be able to’, or ‘so you can’.
And then say the benefits to the client out loud in meetings and pitches – don’t expect the client to fill in the blanks for you. They must see a clear link between what you’re saying and how it helps them or they’ll internally ask ‘so what?’
Use the ‘So What?’ test to see things from your client’s point of view when you’re:
Creating any client-facing copy, such as emails, web copy or marketing materials.
Preparing slide decks or PDFs for clients.
Developing client pitches and presentations.
Running as your inner monologue when talking to a client or pitching to them.
Need some help?
If you’d like some more tips and advice on how to engage your clients and give winning presentations, contact us here for an initial discussion.