Start: The first step in the SHARE process
By Buck McMurray
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”
I know you’ve heard this before. Yes, it’s pretty hackneyed, but it serves as a great reminder to always put our best foot forward.
Editors understand this. That’s why they spend so much time working on headlines. They want someone to read the article after scanning the headline. It’s got to pull them in. That’s why young men in love spend so much time working on their marriage proposals. That marriage proposal will be remembered—for better or for worse—for the rest of his and his wife’s life. There’s something to be said about making sure we start relationships, conversations, and first-time meetings the best way possible.
As you might recall, in our last blog post we introduced the SHARE concept. As a quick reminder, SHARE stands for Start, Hear, Answer, Reassure/Resolve, and Enroll. It’s designed to help you build trust with your contact, help your contact understand the impact of their own problems, and provide a solution that focuses specifically on their needs. In today’s post, we’ll dig into the details of this method, starting with Start.
One of the hardest parts of sharing our products and our business opportunity is just knowing how to Start the conversation. Why? Well, for the most part, it’s our fear getting the best of us—fear of rejection, fear of coming across as “weird,” or fear of not knowing what to say. I’m here to tell you one thing: Relax. There’s really nothing to worry about. That’s what we’re here for.
The best way to begin a conversation is by starting with a compliment. Compliments help tear down your prospective customers’ barriers. They set people at ease and send signals that there’s no reason to be defensive. Make sure they’re genuine, though. Focus on something that you really do like. Ideas: compliment their hair, purse, jeans, car, kids, shoes, etc. There’s a million and one ways to start. 
Next, try to find common ground. Find something you share. For example, if you’re at a school event for your children, you might want to discuss your kids’ teacher, the principle, the neighborhood, or even current events in the city.
Let’s imagine you’re waiting in a restaurant to be seated. You have about 30 minutes until you’re taken in. You notice a women who looks to be about your age sitting on the sofa next to you. What do you do?
Well… look at what she’s wearing, look at her family, look at her wedding ring, and look at her face, skin and hair. Find something you can compliment. If she has nice skin, tell her. If her kids are well behaved, tell her.
Okay… now you’ve broken the ice, what next? Well, let’s say you compliment her on her kids. Keep pursuing that path. Ask where they go to school? Ask how she likes it? Ask how the kids like it? Get her to start telling you about her family. As the conversation continues, you’ll hear information about her personal needs that you can pursue. That said, if you’ve got them talking, you’ve successfully STARTed.
Now, take note: the way you start a conversation will always be different based on where you’re at and who you’re talking to. The goal in this step is simply to start the conversation. If you can do that, you’ve mastered the first step (Start) in the SHARE method.
In our next blog post, we’ll focus on HEAR: how to ask questions to better understand the needs of your customers. For more information, go to Bioactive Academy, My Learning, and go through the Getting Started training.
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