Doctors don’t look for clients. They look for patients. A doctor helps a patient diagnose their health condition, and puts a plan together for the patient to recover and heal.

A good doctor doesn’t need to pitch you to be their patient. In fact, if you find a doctor being overly pushy, it’s a signal to run for the hills.

If you work in the world of professional services, or find that your expertise is required, it helps to occasionally ask yourself, “What would a doctor do?”

Three examples:

Instead of holding a meeting just to pitch, maybe you are better off having a conversation and analyzing the other person’s needs.

Remember you are working together with another person, perhaps more like a patient than a client. Build a shared plan to get the results that you need. Be very honest. If an issue is out of your depth, they need a specialist. Refer them to one.

When the other person asks for your credentials, you should be prepared to respond as a doctor would. You may not have gone to medical school, but you have acquired a skill and body of experience that they’re clearly interested in. It helps to present yourself that way: willing to help and to keep the other person’s best interests in mind.

David S. Baker and Blair Enns wrote good books that inspired this post.