5 Communication Tips to Help You Win the Sale
When I was in ninth grade I met a girl named Rachel. The idea of asking her out terrified me. I feared rejection big time! After all, she was stunning and I was a short red-haired freshman who had never asked a girl on a date.
One day after fourth period English class, I decided I couldn’t handle it anymore. I had to ask. One major challenge; I didn’t know what to say. No one had ever taught me how to ask a girl out. (Thanks Dad and older brother!) So what did I do? I winged it.
Back in the day people defined a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship by telling people, “We go together.” With that backdrop, when the moment came to ask Rachel out, I said extremely sheepishly, “Hey…um….would you go with me?”
Rachel looked at me with the same look you give someone who hasn’t showered for a couple of weeks and said, “Go where?” Obviously she had no idea what I was asking so I said, “Never mind” and we never went out.
#Fail
Some would say I lost the sale due to poor communication skills. I would agree. I know you don’t ever want to lose a sale for the same reason so here are a few communication tips to help you with your customers.
1. Take total responsibility
Great communicators take responsibility for both sides of the communication. In other words, don’t blame your customer for them not understanding you. On the flip side, don’t blame them when you don’t understand them.
Being clear is your job, as is asking for clarity. And guess what? That is great news because you are now empowered to change every interaction going forward.
2. Speak the language of whom you are communicating with
If you were to visit a foreign country, you would do well to study the language. Your customers are like foreign countries. Some of them are more direct, some analytical, playful or emotional.
Learn how to communicate with each of them so you are not a barrier in the communication. One caveat here… I am not suggesting that you “mirror and match” your customer. That falls into the category of manipulation.
3. Be insanely curious
Great communicators are curious. They dig deep. Their favorite word is “Why?” Being insanely curious makes your customer feel important.
In addition, you learn more when you aren’t talking. This is why great communicators have multiple conversation starters at the ready and genuinely want to know about the person they are speaking to.
4. Use the questions only technique
As mentioned above, great communicators are always asking questions. To get on the path of becoming a great communicator, engage in “Questions only” conversations.
Spend five minutes a day with someone only asking questions. This is a great way to train yourself to be insanely curious!
5. Look for the words of which you don’t know the customer’s definition
Words have meaning. The challenge is sometimes you don’t know the other person’s meaning of a specific word. Let me give you a small list of words you probably don’t know the other person’s meaning when they say them.
a. Small
b. Challenge
c. Problem
d. Nicer
e. Upset
f. More
Whenever I converse with someone I look for the words I do not know their definition of. When I hear one of those words, that is where I ask them to give me more detail.
For example, in response to the list above, I ask the following question to gain clarity.
a. “Small how?”
b. “When you say ‘challenge’ what was the issue?”
c. “How has it been a problem?”
d. “Nicer than…?”
e. “When you say ‘upset’, can you give me more detail?”
f. “What does more look like to you?”
Sales is about communicating how your product or service helps your customers to improve their lives. What other communication tips have you learned in order to help your customers? Please share them with me here.
