Communication skills are an
important key in your road to success. One of the main reasons that people who
get divorced is that their spouse never really listened to them. The spouse
may have listened to your words but did they really hear what you were saying.
Business and clients are the same as a marriage in this regard. When your
client tells you their concerns or what they want, do you really hear what they
are saying? Will your client leave and say - this company really cares and will
do the best job for me , I want this company and only this company to do my
job.
Strong communication is
more than just talking. It is mostly about listening. Arrowhead Management once
told a story about a patient that went to a new dentist. The patient came
saying that she needed many crowns. She came to this office because her friend
Suzzie had her crowns done in this office and she is so happy with them. Suzzie
can not stop bragging about the wonderful job that was done. She highly
recommended us to do her friends. Then the new patient asked if we would be
making the crowns the same way that Suzzie had them made. What would you answer
your potential new patient? She is only here because we did crowns on Suzzie
and Suzzie loves them. So the dentist told her - "of course we will
make them exactly the same."
The new patient got up to
leave and said , "that's a shame because I hate Suzzie's
crowns."
Where did we go wrong? This
was a huge case and would have brought us a lot of money and possibly more
referrals. Where did we fail? We failed because we did not communicate with the
client. When the patient asked us if we would make the crowns like Suzzie, we
forgot something. This is not Suzzie in the chair. This is a different person.
We should have asked her how she liked Suzzie's crowns. When she told us that
she hated them because they were too white or too big. Then we could have told
her that we made the teeth exactly how the patient wants them. Everyone is
different. At that point, we could have discussed how she would like her crowns
and what color and we would have had the case.
You see, we answered this
new client how we thought she wanted to be answered. We never asked probing
questions to see what she really meant by saying ,"will you make my crowns
like Suzzie's." She was saying one thing but we heard another thing
because we never communicated.
When communicating with a
client. Let them do most of the talking. Ask them probing questions. See
their non verbal communication as well as their verbal communication.
Paraphrase, paraphrase,
paraphrase. Say things like , "if I hear you correctly" and then
repeat what they said. It's funny how clients when they hear what they just
said will tell you that is not what they want. People do not always communicate
correctly and their words that come out is not always what they meant to say.
Learn to listen to them really well. If you see them fidgeting then ask
them if there is something in the deal that makes them uncomfortable and when
they tell you what it is, then deal with it.
It's always about the
money. Make sure that is all its about when you try to close. Ask you
client, " if we come up with a dollar amount that we both are happy with,
are you ready to close this deal?" Do not try to close a deal, without discussing
all the patients objections. The dollar amount is not as important if they
decide that they want your company and no one else. So use your listening
skills to see if the deal has been closed before you talk money.
Strong communication means
really hearing your client in both their verbal and non verbal cues. A strong
communicator will succeed and will excel at what they do.
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