What to Say When You Don’t Know the Answer To Your Prospects Question
Written by Joe Soto on September 14, 2019
When you’re in a difficult situation, a sales presentation, a client meeting and the client asks you a question you don’t know the answer to. What do you say? You know that moment of terror, you start dreaming up all kinds of answers.
It’s happened to all of us. And, we’re supposed to be the expert!
Well, here’s the radical idea. What you say is, “I don’t know.”
Yep. Say, “I don’t know.”
Here is why:
- It sounds true (because it is). I mean, who’s going to doubt you on that one?
- It tells the client that you’re not trying to B.S. them or con them, that you have no hidden agenda.
- It tells the client they can believe everything else you’re going to say because you’ve shown you’re not afraid of speaking the truth. Number four, it says, you’re not here to sell them or to win a debate, but rather to have a dialogue.
The net effect is they trust you far more than if you had tried to fake it or bluster your way through it. After all, who would you believe? Someone who tap dances around the question or somebody who tells you the truth straight up?
This is a simple way to build instant trust because clients respect honesty and they don’t expect you to have every answer.
