In yesterday’s post we covered part 1 of the 3 step recruiting process, make a friend.
The next crucial piece is to find a need/problem or desire while engaging in the relationship building process.
Here’s a reminder.
People usually don’t buy products and services because they want a product or service.
They buy because of what they perceive the product or service can do for them.
My 3rd son Kyson was born with medical condition called Craniosynostosis which meant the bones in his head were prematurely fuzed together at birth.
Because of this, he required a $50,000 surgery at primary children’s hospital, 
…and a series of $3,500 helmets to help shape his head after the surgery.
Here’s the big question.
Did my wife and I buy the $50,000 surgery and the $3,500 helmets because we wanted the surgery and the helmets or because we wanted what the surgery and helmets could do for our child?
The answer seems obvious right?
We had a big problem/need that we needed a solution for and a desire for our son to be healthy.
Without that problem/need & desire… we could never have been induced to buy that surgery no matter how much we knew, liked & trusted the surgeon.
Similarly, it’s important to remember that the relationship building process is only a step to a sale – not the entire sale.
It’s also helpful to remember here that there will be people you have relationships with who do not have a need/problem or desire that you can help solve with your product/service or business.
This is why, when done right, rejection isn’t really rejection… it’s just discovering that someone is not a fit for what you’re doing.
The next part requires us to find out if the person we are connecting with has a need/problem or desire that our product/service or business can be a solution for.
Many times, if we listen close enough while we’re asking questions, these needs/problems and/or desires will naturally bubble up during the course of a normal conversation.
Other times we might have to ask some direct questions to solicit them.
Here are some questions I’ve found helpful in this process..
Questions about work/job…
What do you do for work?
How long have you done that?
How did you get into that line of work?
Do you enjoy it?
(Be listening for clues here as to how the person feels about their job… Sometimes they’ll come out and tell you they don’t like it, other times you’ll hear it in their voice.)
Questions about Home Business
How long have you been in home business?
Why did you originally get involved?
What are you looking to achieve with your home business?
What challenges have you had or are currently having with building your home business?
Questions about Family
What does your spouse do for work?
Does he/she enjoy that?
How many kid’s do you have?
**I’ve noticed that oftentimes many people’s goals revolve around helping a spouse to quit a job or to help provide a better life & future for children.
Notice that all of these questions can be asked during the make a friend part of the process.
So while you’re asking questions, listening & relating with sincere intent, you’re listening especially for those golden nuggets of the conversation where they tell you about a need/problem or big desire they have.
If a prospect tells you “I’d like to make some extra income”, remember this is not the golden nugget you’re looking for.
Why do they want the extra money?
How much extra do they want and what specifically do they want it for.
How will their life be different when they have created that amount of income?
These are questions that can be helpful in getting to their core desire.
If you’re new to this process, having a list of questions to ask can sure help you get started.
After a while though, you’ll start to engage in this process naturally and in ways that are much more effective than following a script.
With a sincere intent to get to know someone to see if there is an area of their life you can be of service to,
…you’ll find that this process begins to play out naturally and you’ll find that people will feel your desire to help them and be happy to tell you about their problems, dreams, goals & desires.
Once you have identified the specific thing you can help them with, the next step is to suggest a solution.
More on that tomorrow. 🙂