Those dastardly doodles
We've all been guilty of it. Perhaps in a college history class. Or in a company-wide quarterly meeting. Or in a sales presentation we reluctantly agreed to sit in on.
Admit it: You've doodled.
It wasn't your fault. You were bored. So bored that you found drawing a rough sketch of the person sitting next to you more inspiring than listening to the person at the podium.
But worse than being the desperately bored doodler is being the doodlee - the poor soul trying to present information, only to catch a glimpse of the crude drawings of animals, planes and geometric patterns taking shape on the notepads of his audience.
How do you stop the doodling? Marketing psychology pro Sean D'Souza recommends that we do less talking and more listening. His five-step plan of attack for doodle defense when presenting to a prospect or client is:
- Let the client ask questions first. Answer them briefly.
- Ask the client lots of your own questions. These questions should have a diagnostic bent to help you understand the client's problems and goals.
- Take thorough notes.
- When you've finished with your questions, read your notes back to the client to be sure you got what they said - and to demonstrate to them that you were listening.
- Present your solution to the issues presented only.
D'Souza compares the whole process to a doctor's visit:
You pound your doctor with all your ailments and what does she do? She doesn't give you a presentation of her skills, does she? She doesn't tell you which university she attended and when she last did a brain surgery.
Nope.
She listens. She asks questions. And then she summarises. And then she recommends how you can fix the problem you're having.
You can read the full article at D'Souza's web site. When you visit, you also can sign up for his Psychotactics e-mail newsletter, which we've found to be a valuable source of simple yet strikingly insightful marketing ideas.
