Tea & Cookies

Imagine for one moment that I invite you over to my house.

I tell you to make yourself at home.

I let you know there’s plenty of tea and coffee in the house as well as a jar of freshly baked cookies.

“Just help yourself” I say

“Let me know if there’s anything else you need.” I add enthusiastically, wanting to make you feel as comfortable as possible.

How likely would you be to open up the cupboards, make yourself a cup of tea and dive into the cookie jar?

Here’s the thing. The offer being made is genuine. We want to help people feel at home.

But if you’re anything like me you’d probably say something to the effect of “No thanks. I’m fine” even if you really wanted a cookie and a cup of tea.

We wouldn’t dream of rummaging through the kitchen to help ourselves.

Now imagine that the tea (British style!) is all laid out in front of you with a plate full of freshly baked cookies.

I pick up the plate and offer you one.

It’s hard for you to refuse. You can smell how delicious they are and you can see that I’ve gone to a lot of effort.

And you don’t want to offend me. So you take a cookie.

The truth is people are looking for direction and to be led.

They want a very clear next step that’s easy to say yes to.

What have tea and cookies got to do with your business?

Well how many times are you just waiting passively for somebody to reach out to you for help and ask for what they need instead of making them a clear offer of how you can help them?

It’s the difference between handing them a plate of cookies or expecting them to go searching in the kitchen instead.

This is how most business owners approach getting more business - it’s passive instead of being more assertive and it won’t get you consistent results.

As the business leader, you always need to be making a clear offer to the next step.

That’s how you make people feel more comfortable. Now all they need to say is a simple yes or no.  They don’t have to ask for anything.

Are you ready to attract a consistent stream of new clients to your business yet not entirely sure what the best next steps for you are?

Schedule a business growth call today and we’d be happy to brainstorm some ideas with you.