Who will I be speaking with?
How do you prepare for your client meetings?
Of course, we all want to
make an excellent impression when we engage in conversations with (potential) clients.
We prepare thoroughly to maximize the chances of success. Some
questions you can ask yourself are: Who will I be meeting with? What
kind of person are they? Which company or organization do they represent? What
is their business? What are their potential needs, and what could you use to
persuade the client?
Do you want to increase your ability to win people over? Then ask yourself: Who am I speaking with, and what would be decisive
for them to grant me that assignment?
The answer to that
question is: insight into your customer's personality.
This provides you with a lot of information about who they are and what is
crucial for them to connect with you. If that connection is there, you increase your chances of success. If that connection is missing, the chance of success is very small.
Many salespeople are quick to think that price is the (co-)determining
and decisive factor. But what we often overlook is that many customers primarily
choose to buy because a connection has been made. You fully understand each other. And every salesperson can therefore work on
increasing that rapport!
No connection, no sale
I once had a
'no-click' experience with a potential client. He needed an experienced consultant for a project. During our conversation, I
explained our expertise and thoroughly outlined what we could
do for him. A few days later, he called me and told me that he had chosen
another consultant. Perplexed, I asked him for an explanation.
He told me: "It was already clear to me that you have experience before we even
started the conversation. I wasn't interested in all the possible details. I primarily wanted
to hear what results I could expect. I felt a lack of connection." My
approach was to tell the client as comprehensively as possible how we would
tackle the project, intending to convince him. In hindsight, I paid little
to no attention to the person I was speaking with. A missed opportunity!
Have you ever noticed that there was no connection, causing you to
miss out on a project?
In this blog, I will discuss three steps based on the Process Communication Model® (PCM). PCM is a powerful tool that teaches you to communicate, motivate, and persuade effectively, by delivering your message in a way that creates connection.
1. Observe your client
Start customer contact by observing and listening
to your customer. Pay attention to what your customer says and how they communicate. This
provides information about their personality and communication preferences.
2. Adapt your communication style
Based on what you see and hear, you know what you can do and say to truly connect with your customer. This lays the foundation for a good relationship. Many salespeople don't consider this; they prefer to connect in a way that feels comfortable to them. This often leads to missed opportunities to truly click with the customer. Does this mean you have to pretend to be someone else as a salesperson? No, you remain yourself; you simply utilize a communication style you might use less often, but which is still within your repertoire.
But here's the thing. After these two steps, in which you have gained insight
into your client's personality and thus the preferred communication style
they use, there is still one important aspect for connecting with your client.
3. Consider different 'client types'
Did you know that from the information you gather through your observations, you can also
determine what is crucial for your client to connect with you? Because if you know that, you will be more successful and prevent
missing the mark (again) in your client conversation.
In
my blog ‘How do you increase your likeability factor? (2) What is decisive in your customer contact?’
I explain what this means for different 'customer types'.
Do you also want to increase your ability to win people over?
To 'gunnen' means to want someone to receive something. How wonderful is
it when your potential client expresses a desire to work with you
because they feel a connection. This connection was established because you know how
to make successful contact and what is needed to persuade. This way, you enhance
your appeal and trustworthiness!
Do you want this too? Then sign up
for a sales training and learn more about the different personality types within us and how you can apply this to become more successful in your business.
Do you have a sales team that you would like to offer this for their personal development?
Please contact us.
Photo credit: Sean Thoman via Unsplash.com
