Adapt your style to win over the customer.
Adapt your style to win over the customer.
2. Pace your customer’s vocal style. Listen to your customer’s speed, tone, volume and length of message. Then without mimicking them, use a similar speed of voice, tone, volume and length of message. Pacing will build rapport and comfort with your customer.
3. Adjust your level of simplicity and complexity. Listen to your customer and ask yourself how simple or complex they seem to be talking and thinking. If they want it simple, keep it as simple and clear as possible. If your customer seems to want more complexity, go into greater depth and substance as is appropriate. Adjusting is a powerful way to build clarity, rapport and understanding.
4. Mirror your customer’s basic gestures, expressions and body lean. Try to look more similar than different from your customer. Don’t mimic them by following their every cue. Mimicking is not only insulting, but stupid. Instead, try to gradually position yourself similarly in terms of body lean (forward, upright, and backward) and look (relaxed or formal). Mirror your customer’s basic “degree” of hand gesturing. In other words, use more or less gesturing based on your customer’s patterns. And mirror the facial signals of smiling, attending or frowning based on the content of the message. You must listen carefully to mirror the right facial expressions.
5. Signal your respect and interest by nodding, agreeing, maintaining friendly eye contact, providing 3 to 5 feet of space, squaring your body with your customer, maintaining an open looking posture and leaning toward your customer (when appropriate). A ten percent forward lean when standing and a twenty percent forward lean when sitting creates greater rapport. Follow your customer’s message with agreement cues (nodding and listening sounds) within 1-2 seconds, or your rapport will be broken.
6. Mistakes to Avoid
Some customers are much harder than others to read. Don’t get discouraged. As you spend more time with your customers, you will begin to see patterns of behavior which will clarify the customer’s buying style. Similarly, take the time to learn about your own style. Monitor your behaviors, and especially, their impact on the customer. Pay attention to your intuition; that part of you that tells you what feels right. If your intuition tells you that a style behavior does not feel right, pay attention. It is better to be authentic in front of your customer, than an obvious chameleon.
Unlike other social styles models on the market, adaptive selling identifies and describes styles that customers use in their buying process. They may not exhibit the same style outside of work. While the other models are useful, adaptive selling is the only one that is based on the actual buying styles of customers.
Adapt your style to win over the customer - To learn more about this author, visit John Brennan's Website.
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1. Focus on your customer’s interests and needs. Their interests need to be addressed immediately. Don’t try to change subjects abruptly, even if there is a significant objection. It’s better to deal with the objection truthfully than to try to skip over it. Focusing on your customer’s interests and needs builds understanding and cooperation. Address their interests to their satisfaction.
2. Pace your customer’s vocal style. Listen to your customer’s speed, tone, volume and length of message. Then without mimicking them, use a similar speed of voice, tone, volume and length of message. Pacing will build rapport and comfort with your customer.
3. Adjust your level of simplicity and complexity. Listen to your customer and ask yourself how simple or complex they seem to be talking and thinking. If they want it simple, keep it as simple and clear as possible. If your customer seems to want more complexity, go into greater depth and substance as is appropriate. Adjusting is a powerful way to build clarity, rapport and understanding.
4. Mirror your customer’s basic gestures, expressions and body lean. Try to look more similar than different from your customer. Don’t mimic them by following their every cue. Mimicking is not only insulting, but stupid. Instead, try to gradually position yourself similarly in terms of body lean (forward, upright, and backward) and look (relaxed or formal). Mirror your customer’s basic “degree” of hand gesturing. In other words, use more or less gesturing based on your customer’s patterns. And mirror the facial signals of smiling, attending or frowning based on the content of the message. You must listen carefully to mirror the right facial expressions.
5. Signal your respect and interest by nodding, agreeing, maintaining friendly eye contact, providing 3 to 5 feet of space, squaring your body with your customer, maintaining an open looking posture and leaning toward your customer (when appropriate). A ten percent forward lean when standing and a twenty percent forward lean when sitting creates greater rapport. Follow your customer’s message with agreement cues (nodding and listening sounds) within 1-2 seconds, or your rapport will be broken.
6. Mistakes to Avoid
Some customers are much harder than others to read. Don’t get discouraged. As you spend more time with your customers, you will begin to see patterns of behavior which will clarify the customer’s buying style. Similarly, take the time to learn about your own style. Monitor your behaviors, and especially, their impact on the customer. Pay attention to your intuition; that part of you that tells you what feels right. If your intuition tells you that a style behavior does not feel right, pay attention. It is better to be authentic in front of your customer, than an obvious chameleon.
Unlike other social styles models on the market, adaptive selling identifies and describes styles that customers use in their buying process. They may not exhibit the same style outside of work. While the other models are useful, adaptive selling is the only one that is based on the actual buying styles of customers.
Adapt your style to win over the customer - To learn more about this author, visit John Brennan's Website.
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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