A common desire on the part of practitioners is to showcase their skills. When presented with a problem in conversation with a client or prospect, practitioners will recognise the urge to demonstrate that they can help, have a solution.

The most appropriate word to describe what happens next is the word ‘blurt’ – defined as: 

“If someone blurts something, they say it suddenly, after trying hard to keep quiet or to keep it secret…”

Well, why would you keep your solution a secret? Obviously, because if you succumb to the ‘blurt’ process you won’t get paid for your advice.

Clients will be grateful for your advice, but few will experience the value of your advice, other than to be secretly pleased that they have something for nothing.

As a strategy, this largesse by the practitioner will help to promote goodwill but it will also undermine the value of the advice you give.

Better to disclose that you may have a solution, but you need time to think about it and come back the following day with suggestions. And, that the suggestions include a clear statement of the benefits of your advice, and importantly, your fee estimate.

In this way you will come to realise the importance for you and your clients in undertaking a structured consideration of problems and thereby underlining your mutual assessment and communication of value.

Source: New feed