When Passion is Sound Business
People say “do what you love.” Passion — a deep-seated desire to be doing what we’re doing — is key to keeping our interest through the pain it takes to transform an idea into business. But is passion enough? Not really.
It’s no surprise that passion needs to be directed toward solving a real problem that people need solved. If our passion is simply self-serving … well, I’m nice, but who really cares what makes me tick? Everyone is doing their own ticking and no one has a rewindable clock.
3 Ways Passionate Problem Solving Can Attract More Clients
As passionate problem solvers, what and how we present to clients and customers changes.
- Be an Advisor. Do the thinking. Builders offer products and services. Problem solvers listen, assess, and offer sound-thinking solutions that meet customer needs and desires. Demonstrate how you can focus on one bit of the business so that the client or customer can work on the rest.
- Be a Value. Demonstrate with numbers how investing in you will make more time or more money.
- Be Easy. Choose a tiny shared goal that can test the relationship. Make it something small and something easy.
When we’re talking about our passion, we don’t worry about whether we’re selling. When we frame our offers as opportunities that are easy and worth investing in, we no longer get caught in the idea of self-promotion or worry about personal rejection. We’re fully engaged in the ideas. People see our strengths. Relationships happen by attraction.
Clients who want to grow with us see the logic in our reasoning.
Have you got enough passionate problem solving into your work?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
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I agree. I think our little R&D group won our most recent project partly because we showed a great deal of interest in solving the client’s problems, and because our heads shared a mutual passion for the same obscure branch of mathematics.
Hi Susanna!
I read you comment and couldn’t help but think that when someone shows a passion for what I do, my trust level goes higher. I figure they’ll worry about my work as much as I do. It seems to follow that they’ll care about what I’ll care about. I think you’re right about why your group won the project.
Trust drives business more than we realize. 🙂
WoW! You said what I have felt for a looong time. The old idea that business is business and “it’s not personal” just don’t work with me (or anyone else?)…I have always been passionate but forced to hold back, or hold it in. After 7 years in sales, I finally have a chance to be passionate, but now I have no idea how to go about it. Just started a blog that is more blah. I depend on clients reaching out to me (as do most sales people). I think many of us twing at the thought of crunching the numbers to prove our worth but in these times, it makes more than good sense. You provide great food (sustenance)
Ah Kathy,
I so agree. How can we do our best work if we check part of our best selves at the door?
Doesn’t make sense to me.
Connecting with people makes such a difference. 🙂
Well, right now I have tons of passion for my new career path and believe in what I have to offer clients…however, I am beginning to feel that many folks don’t see the value in actually paying for social media services. I spoke to a man last night who “insists” he’s doing it right (i.e. being on FB, Twitter & having a blog) but he is not seeing the ROI in it. Within moments, I assessed 1) he was not as “passionate” about his own “product”he was offering
2) he was not engaging in my “passionate” explanation as to how it “really” works in the social media space (i.e. rules of etiquette, etc)
3) and lastly when I asked if I could offer a couple of suggestions as to how he could enhance his presence (which he thought had merit), I wasn’t able to “convert” to a consult session in which I would be paid to assist him in his goals.
I offer this up as a question, to you & your audience…
how do you close the deal?
(sorry for all the quotations, “heh”)
Hi Marla,
When you figure out what someone needs and show him or her how you can reach that goal easier, faster, and with more performance than they might … and still make them look like a hero. Often they’ll close the deal for you.
What I hear is that you talked about social media, not the opportunity for you to make him stand out as more visible in the way that ONLY YOU could make happen. 🙂