Best Business Expert

Here's a common scenario: You're a first-time entrepreneur with your very first shiny new business. You want to get out there and sell your products or services to your clients. But there's a problem: They want to know how long you've been doing this for and, because you're an honest person, you admit that you've only been doing this for a week (or a month or whatever brief time you've been in business).

Challenging, isn't it?! Some entrepreneurs will simply lie and make up a number but most of us know (because our moms told us) that honesty is the best policy. So, how can you be honest about your lack of running a business while still positioning yourself as an expert? It's tricky but it is possible.

First, keep in mind that customers don’t care how long you've been operating as a sole proprietor (or whatever your business model is). The questions they are asking are for their own peace of mind: They want to know if you have the chops to deliver on your promise. And even though you're new to the BUSINESS world, you probably do have what it takes. So, answer the question they actually want to know rather than the one they are asking. If they ask something like, "How long have you been selling these widgets", then answer truthfully but bring in your other widget-related experience with something like, "I'm actually fairly new to the widget-SELLING side of the business but I've been working in widgets for the past ten years."

But don't stop there! Be sure to bring back the conversation to the benefits they'll receive. For example, continuing on from what you just said in the past paragraph, you might continue with, "So I'm not only providing widgets but I'm also bringing a decade of industry-insider experience. I know widgets inside and out."

You might face the challenge, however, of not having specific industry experience in the product or service you're now selling. However, this does not have to be detrimental either. Don't answer the customer's question with a product-specific or industry-specific answer. Instead, broaden the answer in a way that allows you to bring in your out-of-industry expertise. For example, someone who goes from selling boats to selling cars might talk about having experience selling transportation. Someone who goes from selling airplanes to selling houses might talk about having experience with complex, big-ticket items that have a lifecycle of a decade. The solution here is to find the common points between what you used to do and what you do now and highlight those.

In doing so, you'll assure the customer that you can deliver on your promise and you'll also find that other aspects of your previous business experience (once thought to be unrelated) can actually be included as part of your expertise.

Brought to by you by: Contemporary VA - Run your business instead of running in circles.

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