The next time you ask for advice, don’t say “I know” when they give it to you. Instead, ask them, “How do I do that?”
Lets learn all about it.

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Knowing Isnt Doing

Every day I have a conversation with someone who isn’t where they want to be in their life or their career and they say to me, “I know . . . I know, I need to make more calls. I know, I need to read more books. I know, I need to blog, (or blog more).  I know, I need to use social media. I know, I need to learn more about my customer business. I know, I need to ask more questions. I know, I need to start talking less. I know, I need to build more offline relationships. I know, I need to do more YouTube videos. I know, I need to do more. I know I need to . . .   ”

At least once a day I hear this from someone.

I get paid to tell people what to do. I get paid to help organizations grow sales, improve their selling prowess, increase leads, close more leads, increase conversions, reduce churn, penetrate new markets, grow the pipeline, create new content, etc. And if I’m not getting “paid” to help people, I’m doing it for free.

I have countless conversations where people reach out every day asking for advice. They want me to show them how to get more customers, how to start their own consulting business, how to overcome objections, how to get more social followers, how to get more leads, how to handle pricing issues, how to address their boss, how to address a direct report, etc.

Fifty percent of my time is spent giving guidance, direction, and advice. Some days it’s 100%, like when I’m with clients.

The number one answer I get when giving advice, paid or free, that drives me really crazy is. “I know!”

If you know, then why aren’t you doing it?  If you know, why are you calling me? If you know, then what’s the problem?

The problem is, in most cases, most of us already know what we need to do, but we’re just not doing it. We know we need to make more calls. We know we need to expand our product knowledge. We know we need to create more content. We know we need to expand our social presence. We know we need to stop pushing product. We know we need to save more money, get out of our shitty job, spend more time with the kids, be more focused, or whatever.  Far too often we know what we need to do, we just can’t or won’t do it, and that’s the rub.

When someone is giving you advice, don’t say “I know!”  It’s  really annoying.  Who cares that you know what to do, you’re not doing it, so it’s no different than if you didn’t know. If you know what you’re not doing, then you don’t need advice on what to do, you need help doing it. You need help executing, and that’s a different story.

Knowing what to do and doing it are two separate camps. Too often we lull ourselves into a safe place by convincing ourselves that we’ll be OK because we know what to do. Unfortunately, we carry that security with us far too long, never actually doing anything, and therefore never accomplishing our goals. We don’t get to the next level. We’ve convinced ourselves we’re just a short journey away because we KNOW what to do, but never do it.

Knowing what to do ain’t gonna help you until you know HOW to do it and then PLEASE just do it.

Stop wrapping yourself in a security blanket of cheap dime store knowledge to excuse yourself from taking action. It doesn’t matter what you know; it matters what you can do with what you know.

The next time you ask for advice, don’t say I know when they give it to you. Instead, ask them, “How do I do that?”

Ask them how they would recommend you implement what they are suggesting.  Get them to help you break down the execution process. Get them to share with you HOW you can apply what they are recommending.

Asking how they would do what they are recommending increases the probability that you actually do it and when you’ve asked someone for advice, that’s the only thank you they need in return.

Knowing isn’t doing.

Stop saying “You know!”  Because you don’t!

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Sales Tip – Empathy Matters

Great sales people are empathetic.

You can’t sell if you’re not in tune with your buyers and prospects. Therefore you’re unable to offer a valuable solution to them.

It all starts with your focus on them, their problems, their needs, their emotions, their fears, their issues. You must have empathy for those you’re selling to.

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