6 Steps To Better Client Interactions
As we begin 2016, many of us will spend time reflecting on what worked in 2015, what we want more of in 2016 and setting new goals to achieve.
As you spend time reflecting and planning, consider taking some time to put yourself in the shoes of your clients. After all, clients are the one thing most of us want more of in 2016.
Many people talk about wanting to improve the client experience. They spend money on rebranding, a shiny new website, different packaging, and revised offerings. However, very few take the time to consider what it’s actually like for your client to be in a conversation with you. Yet, it’s normally during these conversations when clients make the decision to purchase.
Now, I’m not saying don’t spend money on these other things, they are important to the health of your business as well. What I’m suggesting is, in addition to these other improvements, take time to assess the face to face experience for your clients.
Have you ever been a client and thought to yourself, “Wow, someone should really tell this person how negative they come across” or “I wonder if this person is aware of how others perceive her?” Maybe it was something small the person could have done differently which would have improved the experience for you.
When you’re in the position of being the client, these are common thoughts when things don’t go as smoothly as you think they should.
Yet, when’s the last time you asked yourself these questions about your own behavior from the perspective of your clients?
Your Savvy Sales Tip this week: From your client’s perspective, ask yourself, “What is it like to be in a conversation with me?
What could I do differently to improve the experience for my client?”
Here’s a simple exercise you might try to gain some new perspective:
Step 1. Pick 1 interaction (face to face) you had with a client recently that did not go as well as you would have liked.
Step 2. In the privacy of your own mind, imagine you are a third party observing yourself and your client interacting.
Step 3. Notice how they interact with each other, their body language, their voice tone, and anything else that jumps out to you as the observer. Maybe you notice they are both saying the same thing, yet not recognizing it.
Step 4. Now imagine stepping into the shoes of the client and see and hear what’s it’s like to be in a conversation with yourself. As the client, do you feel at ease? As the client, is there something you wish was different about the other person’s style of communication? What could the other person do differently to make this experience better for you?
Step 5. Go back to being the observer and write down any new awareness you now have that would make the interaction between the two better.
Step 6. Now imagine taking this new awareness and replay the whole situation with yourself and the client having implemented these changes to your behavior. When you do this, is there a chance there would have been a different outcome to the meeting? If so, ask yourself how you can use this information for your next client interaction. What can you do differently to ensure the next client has a more positive experience when interacting with you?
Keep in mind, you may only need to make small tweaks to your behavior or communication style for clients to have an even better experience when working with you.
The advantage of this exercise as well as implementing tweaks to your communication style means better client interactions. Better client interactions means more clients in 2016.
Wishing you continued success in achieving all of your goals this year.
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