Good morning everyone,
I hope you were able to think about last weeks blog a bit this week and thinking about how you interact with your customers and your team.
This morning I want to focus more on building that foundation in building influence. We are now in the house looking around seeing how we can learn more about our relationships and find ways we can relate to them. Does this sound familiar? This is rapport in the sales process. It is also the building block for influence. Unfortunately, rapport is only the beginning of building influence and not the end all.
Most people believe that you just need to build rapport with the customer so that you can influence them. Rapport is building up conversational similar to when you see someone inline that you know at the coffee shop and you do the top level “hey how are you doing” greetings and quickly catch up before grabbing your coffee and running out the door to get to where you are going, or to just get away…
When you start taking a deep interest in those people you interact with you will never really gain influence unless they are wanting to do the same thing that you are trying to do without input from you. This isn’t usually the case. I choose to really take an interest in people and go deeper with my relationships. I use the letters C.I.A. No, not the government agency. They study people for other purposes like protecting us, unless you are Jason Borne…
C-stands for being curious. Be curious like a child that never stops wanting to know more. Ever had a child as you “why” only to follow up with another “why”… “why”…“why” Please don’t ask people why it is like nails on a chalk board to parents. Not all, but most of us that are not perfect. Be curious to learn more about your relationships whether they are customers, teammates, family, friends, people you just met, etc. Learn about them as much as you can.
I-stands for being intentional. Be intentional about your relationships. While you are asking questions do not be staring at a phone while the other person responds. Look them in the eyes and pay attention to what they are saying and how they are saying it. You’ll learn a lot about a person when you pay attention to their posture, their tones, their words. Even when someone is saying they are fine… if their tone sounds like they are about to scream, they are not fine. Pay attention and see if there is a way you can help.
A-stands for asking questions. Ask a great deal of questions. This being paired up with curiosity and being intentional helps you really learn about the relationships. What is really going on with your teammates, your customers, your family? Similar to the sales process where you do a needs analysis in my book “The Sales Process Uncovered”, you will ask questions to see if there is a way you can help the person get to where they want to go. People of great influence are not those that take from people, but are people that give as much as they can without expecting things in return. That can be time, money, clothing, etc. Dale Carnegie, Mother Teresa, Jesus Christ are all people of great influence. These people started most of their conversations with questions. These individuals wanted to learn about he situation and where they could help. They stepped in.
For today, focus on using C.I.A. when you interact with people you come in contact with. Not for the sole purpose of gaining influence. You will as a bi-product, but because you want to really interact with people on a deeper level.
Using rapport, C.I.A., and what I discuss next week you will really start building a solid foundation for influence.
Until then, have a great weekend!
P.S. If you have any input, or would like to write on a topic feel free to reach out I would be more than happy to discuss your interest and let you be a part of this blog.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
Sales and Leadership Enterprises