Getting the Most Out of Interactions
Your customers are coming to you to fulfill a need. Their success might depend on your ability to fill this need (or want) but your success also relies heavily on your commitment to your customer’s success. The customer will do their best to express to you what they need or want, or how you can help them solve a problem, but you ultimately have to figure out how to fill those gaps. Do this well, and consistently, and you’ll have repeat business. Fall short of expectations, and you’ll see your competition snatching up your former customers.
Loss of customers = loss of work = loss of money, get it?
It’s been said that successful people use the same skills as anyone else; they just use them BETTER and MORE OFTEN. Here are some skills we all possess, that you can fine tune to become a top performer in YOUR field:
1) Listen. During conversations, many people are so busy planning their words and thinking about what they will say next that they miss the entire point of communication: understanding the other person. Take time to listen to the words and voice tone of the person you are talking to and you will be better equipped to recognize their emotions as well as what they need or want. You will be more capable of solving problems and meeting expectations because you won’t be making assumptions; you’ll be working with knowledge you’ve gathered directly from the conversation with your customer or client. Further, you’ll have better rapport than the guy who didn’t listen, and who made his customer feel like they were wasting their time – or their breath – trying to explain their needs to him.
2) Ask questions. The customer won’t always give you all the information you need right up front. Sometimes, they might think they’ve told you everything you need to know, but they’ve actually left out some major details. If you are a designer, how many of your clients understand what’s required to set up a website? How many clients have come to you asking for a design, but don’t even having hosting or a domain? A savvy web designer will start with the basics first, and by asking probing questions, will determine the additional needs of the client (and uncover potential opportunities to fill those needs). Don’t just limit yourself to simple “yes” or “no” questions. Use open-ended probes such as: “What are you looking for?” or “Tell me how you currently do this..” Open probes are better for gathering information, while closed “yes” or “no” probing questions are great for controlling a conversation (think: that guy who rambles too much).
3) Set goals. We all know the saying, “The customer is always right.” While that might not ALWAYS be true, we do want do effectively meet the customer’s needs while still letting them know what to expect up front. Know what you want to accomplish during any interaction and allow yourself to be held accountable. You can set an agenda for the entire project and any existing deadlines, or to just one single meeting with a client. A design consultation meeting, for example, might begin with some opening introductions after which you could set the agenda with a statement such as: “What I’d like to do today is learn about your company’s needs and find out what you’d like to achieve. That way, I’ll be better equipped to propose the right options for you. Does that sound good to you?”
4) Think ahead. What do you want to accomplish during this conversation or meeting? What do you want to accomplish by the end of the project? Now, put yourself in the other person’s shoes. What do you think he or she wants to accomplish during this conversation? During your first meeting? By the end of the project? Keep these possible goals in the back of your mind throughout your conversation to try to find a solution that works for all parties involved. Focus on what you must do to accomplish these goals. Be proactive, set a timeline and create clear and realistic objectives.
5) Support what you’re saying. Figuring out what your customer needs or wants is the first step. Then, you have to explain how you will meet or even exceed those expectations. You’ll need to illustrate the value of your product or service in ways that your customer will understand (read: NO JARGON) and reach an agreement on timeline and what will be accomplished by the end of the project. Be specific here. What problems, needs or wants does this person have, and what specific products or services do you offer that could be beneficial? It might even be helpful to present this information in a Feature-Benefit format, where you state what product or service you offer, what it does, and how it would therefore help the client or customer – in that order.
6) Illustrate the value. Really sell yourself along with the products and services you offer. It’s just like being in a job interview. Your customer or client wants to know why you are the right candidate for this job. Sometimes illustrating the reasons involves knowing more about what your client or customer does, including their job skills or duties, their job title, the organization they work for, what that organization does, what industry they’re in, and what their customers are like. Now, how many clients are going to just give you that information up front? Not many. But if you asked the right probing questions earlier in your conversation, this step will become a lot easier. Once you know your customer and their business needs, you can clearly illustrate (in terms they understand) how you can help them meet those needs with your products or services.
7) Check for acceptance. This doesn’t just mean making sure the client is 100% satisfied with the work at the end of the project. No, checking for acceptance starts during the initial conversation. After you explain what you have to offer, make sure the two of you are on the same page. Ask, “Does that sound good to you?” or “Do you think that would fit your needs?” By knowing what the other person wants and how they feel about everything you’ve just told them, you’ll be better equipped to meet their needs and expectations in a satisfactory way. Some people prefer to have a more formal, written documentation of the client’s or customer’s acceptance by having them sign off on a contract, stating that they understand what will be involved in the project itself. While this is certainly a good idea for legal reasons, not every conversation will require this formality and it will be up to you as a business professional to understand your clients and your industry and determine if having written documentation is important for you.
8 ) Watch the body language. Be aware of your own word choice, tone of voice, posture, gestures, facial expressions and other body language – but also be aware of the signals the other person is sending to you. They will let you know how they feel, even if they don’t express it verbally. Sometimes they might shift uncomfortably in their seat, become distracted by something or someone outside the window, stall or seem uneasy in continuing the conversation. Be sensitive to these signals, and don’t proceed with a conversation until you’ve asked all the right questions or gotten the commitment from the other person. If you sense that they are getting uncomfortable, make the necessary changes and adjust your own body language, word choice and tone of voice to get things headed back in the right direction. If they send a signal that the conversation is over, don’t push it. You might end up doing more harm than good. If you can’t overcome any existing objections, just ask for feedback or permission to stay in touch and leave it at that..
9) Propose next steps. This not only lets the other person know you are listening, but it lets them hold you accountable for getting the job done – and gives them a sense of teamwork because you are filling them in on what happens next. Sometimes, your next steps will actually involve having the customer or client do something, such as send you a logo image or sign a contract. Sometimes, you may need to take things a step further and arrange for an on-site demonstration, an internal presentation, or a needs analysis at some point in the future. Whatever the case may be, it is extremely important to create that sense of teamwork and build rapport during your very first conversation, by letting the other person know about these essential next steps.
AchieveGlobal conducted one of the largest research projects on the topic of sales. Called the Sales Leadership Research Study, it looked at opinions and beliefs held by customers, salespeople, sales managers, sales training managers, and vice presidents of sales in 21 industry-leading sales organizations in three major global markets: North America, Europe and Japan. During an interview, one participant, who was a Vice President of Sales, said: “Everything starts with the customer. You need to understand what he wants. You have to put yourself in his shoes because sometimes he doesn’t even know what he needs.”
Those words ring true not just to designers or to salespeople, but to anyone who’s ever offered a product or service to a customer. There will always be customers who have questions, and there will always be people who know that they have a need, but can’t quite put their finger on what it is. That’s where we come in. Our job is not just to sell them what we offer; it’s to help them. Sometimes, we are here to help them realize that a need exists, find a name for those needs, and let them know how we can solve them. Keeping that customer-focused mindset is a good start, and hopefully, with help from the tips and tricks listed in this post, you’ll be on the right path to successfully helping your clients and customers and becoming a top performer in YOUR field!
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