The Initial Consult: Make That First Impression More Than Once

“Admiration must be kept up by the novelty that at first produced it; . . .  there must always be the impression that more remains.” 

Samuel Johnson (1709 – 1784)

I’ll bet every client you have ever served is different from any other. I will also bet that, in one important sense, every client you have ever served is the same as every other. Finally, I will go out on a limb and say to the extent the second sentence is true, your practice will flourish.

Of course, every client we have is different from every other, in potentially myriad ways. They are young and old. They are new in the workforce and seasoned professionals. They are confident and terrified. They are sales representatives and physicians, production superintendents and college students…and in one of a thousand different kinds of jobs. 

However, I imagine their first contact with you was the same. They emailed or clicked on a link on website. At some point a conversation began. It’s the importance of that first consultation I want to examine because it is here that you—yes, you—decide if it will most likely convert into a sale.

In this article I go beyond the conventional idea about maximizing those conversions. I firmly believe we must close the same sale not just once, but again and again. I’ll discuss why we should do that, when we should do it, and how we should do it.

The first time thing you see or hear from a potential client is a question about managing his or her career. However, you will rarely be presented with the real question. Consider this: there isn’t one person who needs a résumé. They need a job, a career, or a change in one or both, but they don’t need a résumé. That document is just a tool to help them make their pain go away. Jack Chapman put it best when he coached all of us to ask the lead “where does it hurt?” We should help the caller find the answer to that question; that’s how we make our money. We take away the pain of unemployment or misemployment. 

Now I must make an important observation. People who are “in pain” want to speak with a human. Websites, emails, and voice mail systems are very good at several things. However, they are terrible at taking away pain. In fact, they can often add to it. (“I know you called me to get answers. But I’m not going to give you any. Please visit my website. I assume you are so like the ‘average joe’ that you’ll find my standard answers there.”) All those modern wonders can speak at or past your potential client. But, if you want to close more sales, you must speak with the potential client—by phone or in person.

It’s in that first contact you must get the caller to tell you where it hurts. Among the best ways to do that is to ask a question. That helps restore the caller’s confidence. You are enticing the soon-to-be-client to let you listen to her. People love to know they are being listened to. What kinds of questions might you ask? Consider these examples:

• “There must be things about the work you do now that dissatisfies you. Could you please tell me what those things are?”
• “Finding a new position can be frustrating if there is no one you can turn to when you have questions. What kinds of answers do you think might help you move your job search forward?”

If you listen to the answers carefully you will know which next steps are best for this caller. The details of how you offer your benefits are much too lengthy to go into here. However, I do want to call your attention to the critical word in the last sentence: “benefits.” 

Too often, we are quick to recite (or post on a website, or list on our LinkedIn profile) a list of what we do. As important as they all are, these are still only features. When people ask me what I do, I could recite the following list:

• I write résumés, cover letters, and lists of references,
• I help people find where the opportunities are,
• I prepare people to interview well,
• I help them be paid what they are worth.
• …the list goes on and on.

I mention none of those features. The emphasis in that list is on what I do. 

I tell them this: “I help rising, senior, and very senior executives win the careers they’ve always deserved, get paid what they are worth, reduce the stress of the job search, and avoid the hidden limitations of AI.” It’s all clear benefit. Not a feature to be found. Moreover, the focus in on them, never on me.

As an interim summary, I hope I’ve made this crucial point: right from the start we must demonstrate a willingness to help callers overcome the pain of being in the wrong job or having no job at all. Now you know why making that kind of first impression is an excellent way of closing more sales.

AI does many wonderful things. We all use it every day. But AI has no compassion, despite the “canned” words that start every result. AI is a machine. Our clients are people.

But I said we make that first impression again and again. We deliver benefits. And we must reinforce those benefits, even when we are knee deep in the features our clients see listed on their invoices. 

Let me explain with an example. I’ve signed up a new client because he wants the benefit of a new job. Now we’re working hard on the résumé. If I never mention the benefit of a powerful résumé again during the process, if I never instruct him when, where, and how to use it, the client will dutifully upload that résumé to every announcement he can find. He just knows employers will burn up the phone or his email account trying to hire him. Right? 

Not quite. What will really happen is this: he will wait…and wait…and wait. Again and again, research shows the best jobs aren’t filled by applying online. His initial confidence will plummet quickly to uncertainty. And guess whom he will blame?

Suppose, as I gathered his success stories, I showed him why they will appear as they do on his résumé and how the résumé is tied to the interview and even the job search process. Once again, the résumé is splendid. But now he knows how to use it. He gets interviews. The interviews go well. Our client’s confidence ascends from one high point to another. And guess who he helps credit with his success? His frame of mind means repeat business and referrals. Even if you can’t help someone who is referred to you, you can refer him to a colleague. And that colleague will return the favor. Is there an end to all this growth? I’ve never found it.

What this article is really about is helping you build a habit. Like most habits, the behavior isn’t complicated. I hope you will dedicate yourself to helping our clients relieve their pain step by step every step of the way. Just as we close one sale at a time, we position ourselves as an irresistible source of benefits for many potential clients, many at a time.