External Orientation Checklist

Written by on October 31, 2018 / How to Sell

Based upon the overwhelming success of my Relationship Development Checklist, I’m going continue to distill critical business growth concepts down into easy to consume and easy to follow step-by-step guides.

In this installment I help you overcome the narcissistic instinct that has become pervasive in a society dominated by people who become famous just for being famous.

Every valuable relationship begins with a focus on delivering value for someone else.  Once that person experiences the value you provide, they will be more likely to deliver value to you. Your focus on providing value first is referred to as having an “External Orientation.”

Here then is your checklist to demonstrating an external orientation:

_____Take a personal inventory of the value you provide by briefly reviewing testimonials, successful client case studies or videos of you doing something that gives you satisfaction. This should be done with the first 15 minutes of each day and it sets the table for you to feel confident in your ability to help people.

_____Change your language. Instead of greeting someone with “Hello. How are you?”  Begin by saying: “Hello. What’s the best thing that happened to you yesterday?”  This will start a conversation.

_____After the initial exchange from the question you asked above. Then ask: “Who can I introduce you to in order to make today even better than yesterday?”  Note: You are asking them who you can connect them with and not what you can do. This should prevent most people from asking for cash or asking you to take out the trash.

_____Next ask: “Why would meeting this person change everything for you?” or “How would this person improve your life?”

_____Finally: Look to make that connection or a connection similarly valuable for that person.

This may seem simplistic or it may seem unusual or it may seem too scripted.  It is all of those things, but it is also 100 percent focused on the person with whom you are interacting and that is what he will remember.

During the rest of that day, and every time he sees you, or speaks about you, he will remark on how you asked these questions and focused on him.  When you connect him to someone you believe can help him, he will begin remarking about your ability to follow through.  This is not a bad reputation to have.

One in three people will reciprocate.  That means 33 percent of the people with whom you interact in this fashion will ask to connect you with someone who can deliver value to you.  That’s over 100 new introductions being made to you each year, just for following this checklist.

That’s not too shabby.

In case you missed some of the other valuable coaching tools I’ve shared, here they are:

Relationship Development Checklist

External Orientation Checklist

In case you missed the previous videos in this series, you can find them here:

Coaching Session One: External Orientation

Coaching Session Two:  Relationship Revenue: An Overview

Coaching Session Three: Key Relationship Targets

Coaching Session Four: Five Ways to Deepen Relationships with Evangelists