Make It All About Them by Nadine Keller

Author:Nadine Keller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2012-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

Tradition: Hand over the floor to teammates by reminding the client of their name, title, and what they will talk about.

New tradition: Hand over the floor to teammates with fanfare! Create enthusiasm and excitement for the next person your audience is going to hear.

One of the most powerful opportunities to sell the team happens when one team member transitions to another. A team member will typically transition to another team member by saying something like, “Thank you. I will now hand over the floor to Kathleen, who will talk to you about implementation.”

This kind of transition represents an enormous missed opportunity to build a team member’s credibility and create anticipation and excitement for the next speaker. Contrast the previous introduction with the following: “I am pleased to be able to hand over the floor to Kathleen, who will be responsible for ensuring a smooth and seamless transition from your current provider to us. No one I know has as keen attention to detail and as strong a commitment to exceeding client expectations as Kathleen. Though she won’t tell you this, Kathleen has recently been awarded one of our organizations highest honors, which recognizes commitment to client service—this is why I know you will love working with her. Kathleen . . . [handing over the floor]?”

Team members can brag about their colleagues in a way that those colleagues would never be able to brag about themselves. In this example, a client is likely to be excited about Kathleen’s attention to detail and her strong commitment to exceeding client expectations. What resonates even more is the acknowledgment that she received. Who would not be excited about Kathleen after hearing that? Colleagues can also help to highlight each other’s personalities, as seen in the following example: “I am excited to be able transition the presentation over to Mike, whom I have had the opportunity to work with for a very long time. I can tell you with certainty that no one I know understands the intricacies of funding like Mike does. Not only that—but I have found him to be a very good loser on the golf course (but we won’t go there right now).”

A genuine display of affection for your teammates will appeal to a buying committee. We all want to enjoy what we do and the people with whom we work. Communicating a work-hard/play-hard attitude can be powerfully attractive.

Transitions can also provide an opportunity to allow the buying committee to learn a little about the people on the team outside of the business setting. I remember one person who included in their transition, “Hannah is too modest to tell you this, but in addition to her outstanding actuary skills, she is a very accomplished concert pianist.” Not only did this introduction showcase Hannah’s human side, it signaled to the client that these people really like each other and are proud of each other’s accomplishments—even personal ones.

I recently had two different people from the same organization introduce me before I began two separate workshops.

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