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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

Building customer connection with customers that can drive business growth

Forty second rule. It is believed that a person is able to form the first impression of an interlocutor in 30-40 seconds.

How building customer connection? The client will evaluate your ability to speak, the first words and phrases spoken, the first actions that you take.

Be attentive to the client's words. Listen to him, answer questions and ask them. If he sees a sincere interest in his person, he will tell you everything you need and even more.

Clarify where you might misunderstand each other. This will save you from making mistakes and show the person that you are listening carefully.

Make your dialogue come alive. You yourself know that a dry formal tone can make anyone feel bored, so if the client does not show irritation, haste, or some behavior that can be used to judge a difficult character, relax a little and allow yourself a little informal humor or emotionality in response to the sincerity of a person. By the way, the greatest sellers in the world have made a name for themselves by communicating with customers in the spirit of: “I like you!” for building customer connection.

give compliments. Correctly and timely compliments are able to building customer connection. Pay attention to the environment - you may see certificates and awards on the walls, or you will like the cozy atmosphere in the office. Point out what the client might think is really important. Study in advance information about the company, customer reviews, achievements - such a compliment will always be in place.

Use the small talk technique. This is an informal conversation on a neutral topic that will help building customer connection. It is important that this topic is interesting and pleasant for your interlocutor. Topics for small talk: hobbies; talking about what you once heard from the interlocutor; an interesting and relevant story, etc.

Errors when establishing contact

Invasion of personal space. A lot of people are terrified of this. It is optimal to be 100-80 cm from the buyer - and everything is audible, and he does not have the impression that you are about to be face to face.

Cold tone or, conversely, fawning in the voice. It is better to initially choose a neutral friendly tone, and during the conversation adjust to the pace, timbre and volume of the client's voice.

Too much attention. If the seller is too persistent in his desire to sell something, and, as they say, puts a lot of pressure on the psyche, the buyer may fundamentally not buy anything and no longer use the services of the company / store at all.

Talk more than the client. To arrange the interlocutor to yourself, you need, at a minimum, to arouse his interest in the conversation, to involve him in the conversation. In addition to the technique of small talk, open-ended questions help a lot.

Subtleties

non verbal cues. These are our gestures, facial expressions, eye contact with the interlocutor. At a minimum, you need to make sure that they do not contradict your words during the conversation. Ideally, they should reinforce everything you've said and help keep the conversation going in a friendly and unobtrusive way.

Let's skip the tests. Most likely, you will not have the opportunity to find out for certain which channel of information perception (auditory, visual, olfactory, tactile) dominates the interlocutor. Therefore, use everything at once: tell about the product, show it, let it be touched and, if necessary, smelled (remember how fresh books smell - it makes a special impression on someone)