Ignorance Isn’t a Bad Thing
“I don’t know” isn’t the end of the world
When I was starting out in business, I was reluctant to tell a prospect, “I don’t know” when I was asked a question about how taxes, policy provisions or business law would affect them.
As I ‘matured’ in my career, I learned to get real — real comfortable admitting, “I don’t know” to many of the questions I was being asked.
Be ‘OK’ being ‘Not-OK’
Social psychologists have proven over and over again that your ability to openly acknowledge that you are NOT perfect . . . that you don’t have all the answers . . . actually makes you more attractive to a prospective client.
Seek to demonstrate . . . “Credible Candor”
The fact is . . . your ‘trustworthiness’ factor goes up whenever you exhibit what I call, “Credible Candor”. This means you say, when it’s true, “I don’t know”. This makes you more ‘real’ (i.e. less ‘plastic’) and, therefore highly attractive to prospects. Just be sure you add something like, “. . . but I’ll make sure I find out for you!”.
What you DO is more telling than anything you might SAY to a prospect or client. Behavior that reveals you’re not perfect in every way – makes you seem even more perfect to others.
KEY POINT:
Be Human . . . you’ll reveal your imperfections . . . and become more attractive