Do you dive in head first into business speak with customers or coachees? Here’s a simple reminder for us all.
Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?
I hear suit sales are up so are fountain pen sales. It’s all the extra business meetings we’re having. British Airways is even offering free business class flights to anywhere in the world to small business owners looking to export abroad.
It seems that in these tough times, we’re all out drumming up business with face to face meetings. And that’s a good thing. It’s heightened our awareness to go back to the basics of selling.
And with the pressure on we’re getting straight down to business talk and this couldn’t be more dangerous. This is a big mistake when you’ve never met someone before. No. we ought to be holding back on business talk even in these pressured times and become even more interested in them, become curious about them as a person.
People like to do business with people they both like and trust. OK you may not be fantastic buddies but you like and respect each other and only then will business result.
Do you know when you are with a friend, you get along really well and you become like them, you match their personality, their mood, their pace, their body language, eye contact…everything. But when you are with someone who wouldn’t be a great friend and is not like you, naturally you are not going to become like them are you?
In sales though, you need to become a little bit like them so as to build trust and some likeness. For example, anyone who knows me can see that I’m quite bubbly and excitable and energetic, I like to be positive.
My wife thinks I’m quite loud!
So if I meet someone who is the opposite then I need to purposely become like their personality a little. I need to slow down, monotone my voice a little, speak like them, give them the same amount of eye contact as they give me.
I call it personality matching and it works.
That way we will build a rapport, begin to trust each other and get on. Then we can start talking about business.
Mirror mirror on the wall…who is the fairest of them all? Not you, but the person you’re talking with, so let’s spend some of our attention on them and begin to match their personality before diving head first into business speak.
