WINNING TRUST IN CONVERSATIONS

People say that I am as “straight as an arrow” because of my frankness on how I feel towards anything. Yes, I do call “a spade a spade”.

While I get to live my values of honesty and integrity, this straightforward nature of mine is hurting many people, which I’m unhappy about. It affects my relationship with my customers too.

My challenge is I don’t know how to “turn the corners” when conversing, unlike some tactful people who can do that so well.

I need your help to show me how I can converse in a way that will not hurt people, yet not compromise on my values. — Arrow

AConversation is the heart of selling. When you do it well, every moment of it can get people to like and trust you more, which is a very important objective when in conversation. By itself, it’s a value for all good natured people and I’m sure you want this too.

Bottom line:

The most effective way to start the conversation is to find out the person’s needs first. Then listen empathetically to both their spoken and unspoken words and how they respond to your questions. Pause and think before asking the next question.

When you do this, you are already into the process of selling as the prospect should be feeling good about your curiosity.

Even if they don’t buy, you will not be disappointed because you have not mentioned anything about your product yet. As you are not disappointed, you can naturally change the conversation’s is direction to focus on other matters that will help make a good friend out of this person.

However, should the conversation lead to the likelihood of making a sale, then do the follow up next as expected by the prospect as well. This is not being pushy, but your show of concern and good public relations. This “turning of corners” will go well with anyone in any conversation. Becoming A Winner, Not A Loser In Conversations

QVery often, I walk away after a sales conversation either with nothing to show, or at best, getting a sale with a much reduced profit. Both of these outcomes are not good for me. I can’t go on like this anymore as I’m the loser most of the time. I need to be more effective in my conversation with the prospect to bring in better results. What advice can you give me? — Loser

AIn the context of selling, a productive sales conversation is a good win-win negotiation session. It requires a certain kind of focus rather than just doing plain talking and hoping that it will turn into a sale at the end of it. The end game is to find a common ground for both parties to gain mutually. Bottom line:

When entering a sales conversation, prepare your groundwork well by finding out more about your prospects, like what kind of people they are, what’s their needs, what’s their preferences, as well as what kind of questions they are likely to ask.

Learn to be adept in asking probing questions that go beyond the surface for real needs and inner feelings to be accurately established through listening deeply with your ears, eyes and heart.

Throughout the conversation, be strong and patient as anything can happen. So don’t give up too quickly and easily. Even if they say it’s their last offer, do not panic as there will be many “last offers”. So go for a few more rounds to uncover more.

Bear in mind that giving discounts is only one option and should be the last option when everything else fails. There are always other good and even better options, like faster delivery time, better credit terms, longer warranty period, free consulting service or any other additional service that you can offer as alternatives.

Last word. Do not rush through the conversation as you will get little with a rush job. Even if you need to rush, pretend that you have all the time to cover all important matters. With “time” on your side, you will be more composed and objective. This will help you greatly.