Page 196 - ConvinceThemFlip

convince them in 90 seconds or less
impression?” “What do you think of the view from the
observation deck?”—anything to get them going. Another
rapport-creating question is “How did you get started?”
As in “How did you get started in sales?” or “What led
you to finance?” This is a story that everybody has to
tell, and it’s almost guaranteed to get a conversation
started.
As soon as you find common ground, you find direc-
tion and momentum, the comfort level expands, and you
can start to relax a little.
However, skip the step of finding common ground and
you’re playing with fire. At a recent executive seminar,
I was told the following horror story that shows many
of the ways you can miss one opportunity after another
to connect. The players here are Lucinda, an ambitious
young analyst at a brokerage company, and Dianne, a
more senior analyst and her company’s best presenter.
Lucinda has invited Dianne to lunch in the hopes she will
help her prepare for a crucial presentation.
“Do you know anything about Mongolian food?” Lucinda
asked Dianne as she ushered her from their table to the
buffet at the center of the restaurant she’d chosen for
their lunch. Without giving Dianne the chance to answer,
she continued on, “It’s really great. Here, take more. Let
me put it on the plate for you.” Lucinda tweezered heaps
of raw pork and chicken onto Dianne’s plate. “I know you
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