Good morning everyone,
Yesterday I was wondering what I would write about today while driving to visit some new customers. I was wondering what content I should share with all of you. When I was sitting in a conference room having conversations with one customer the person I was with noticed how quickly I build rapport with the people that I meet.
He stated in the first meeting that I really know how to kiss up to the customer, but by the second meeting he was sitting back just noticing how I was getting engaged with the customer so well. We had business to talk about sure, but how things unrolled was interesting.
See we were in Novi, Michigan and the one customer’s name we will use is Chris. What I already knew about Chris was that he and his wife have twins soon to be arriving. Courtesy of his wife. During conversations I found out that he also had two other children (the oldest in high school) which is why they were going to continue to live in the area they are living until he graduates, but will obviously will need a bigger house soon with the addition of two more.
We were discussing houses and where he would love to live and then it came out that I live in Perrysburg, Ohio now. All of a sudden he perks up and said that he grew up in Perrysburg and how much he loved it. We talked about all of the places down here and a strange fact came out after we were discussing where he lived and where I now live.
Come to find out he knows my neighbor really well as he played sports with my neighbor’s son. They are really good friends still to this day. The customer even has family that still lives here and he travels down about once a month. We will be setting up a date to grab a meal soon is where we left it off at. Typically, I try to set up the meeting for a follow up on that, but it was the first meeting and the person with me was just sitting there counting the minutes until we left.
The customer really didn’t start opening up much during the meeting discussing business items, but after the meeting when we talked about personal stuff and stories he could not stop talking and we built a bond pretty quickly.
So how did this all happen?
First, I want to help those that I meet. I want them to know that if there is anything that I can help with whether it is a location, some kind of product / service that they are trying to use, or even great restaurants in an area. I want to help them get to a better place if possible.
Second, I get engaged in the conversation with customers to make sure I am focused on getting to know them. I make sure that my attention is focused on them and not talking so much about me. I will throw out small details every so often to see if there is something that we can connection on in conversation. If not, I steer the conversation into any where else that they may have interest as the conversation unfolds.
Third, is I want to learn about the customer constantly. I use the house analogy that I have used on my blogs in the past and will be discussed in my book that is finally back in edit for the second time. I constantly want to be curious and learn about customers and those I meet. Without that want people zone out and focus on themselves or making a sale. Again, if you are not focused on the customer you will lose that connection. Make sure you always are learning something new about the customer.
Last thing to remember is I put a priority to get to know the customer. I value them so much that I want to get to know them as people buy from people and people that they know and trust. Without trust, there is not going to be a transaction.
There you have it HELP. Help them, be engaged, learn about people, and place a priority on them.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
Sales and Leadership Enterprises