How to be more persuasive in sales

A salesperson of a financial product met with a potential client, at her request. He asked her to bring some information with her.  The information was beautifully presented, with relevant facts neatly arranged.  The  potential client had spent a lot of time in preparation, and was proud of her efforts.  She casually mentioned something about the work she had done. The salesperson did not say a word. Later, she twice asked questions about the commission; the salesperson evaded the question both times.  She was confused about some of the terminology used, and looked puzzled. The salesperson did not notice, so she  had to verbally ask him to explain. Finally, testing his communication skills further, she gave him a direct compliment about how well he had explained one concept, and he beamed with pride.

He tried to close for an immediate sale, but she demurred. She wanted an independent review of the financial product, convinced that she was not being told everything.

Here are the skills the salesperson missed.

1. Notice more than the words; hear the emotions being expressed.  Listen for a sense of pride or effort, especially if it has to do with preparing for your presentation, and compliment the potential client on it! This could be paperwork prepared as requested, a room arranged as requested, or even refreshments that are ready.

2. Answer questions the first time they are asked, and answer them fully. For example, if it involves compensation, don't say, "The client doesn't pay. There's a commission arrangement between company A and company B." Most clients want to know more, such as the commission rate, which is relevant as it affects their product. Payment of some sort is expected, but an exceptionally high payment may be of concern.  Evasion of answers causes mistrust, and will affect sales or other persuasion. The client knows that "there is no such thing as a free lunch" and that directly or indirectly, he or she will be paying your commission.

3. Avoid jargon, especially if your client is in another field or you are explaining something technical. Plain common English is essential. Literally practice your talk in front of someone from another field, and have the listener write down all the technical words or other jargon you used. Then try again with simpler words, and at a slighter slower rate of speech. In addition, watch the prospective client's face to see if he looks puzzled. If so, immediately ask if he has any questions. Communication, especially in sales, is a two way street. You should continually be getting verbal and non-verbal feedback from the client so you know how to proceed.
4. If you promise something for listening to you, such as a greater knowledge of a topic or how to improve something, make certain your audience gets what you promised.  If you use technical words that your audience does not understand, they haven't gotten  the information they expect, and this could also cause mistrust. Make certain you use language at a level they can comprehend.

Excellent communication skills will enhance your ability to sell and to persuade. Hear the emotions, answer questions fully, avoid jargon and technical terms, and provide whatever you promised as part of your effort to make communication a two-way process and build trust. Without some level of trust, there is no business transaction.

Business Speech Improvement provides individual coaching in verbal skills.

You only have one chance to make a great first impression.

Giving a Presentation? How to Improve Your Eye Contact

According to one survey, more adult Americans fear giving a speech more than dying. Some show their fear by their inability to make eye contact with their audiences during the presentation. They look down at their notes, or up at the ceiling, instead.

Poor eye contact in the American culture conveys a lack of openness, of connection. The audience looks at the speaker, and the speaker looks elsewhere. The audience wonders why, and the message loses value quickly.

The audience wants the speaker to succeed; who wants to sit through another awful speech? Practice your presentation enough so that you are not reading it. (Can you give it if the technology and lighting failed?) Try choosing a few friendly faces throughout the audience and looking briefly at each one. If that is too hard for you, look slightly above their eyes at the tops of their heads, and be sure to look around the room when doing this. While it is not quite as good as looking at their eyes, it is better than not looking at them at all. 

For more tips on public speaking, from writing to delivering powerful speeches, get the e-book "Public Speaking: You Can Do It!" by Business Speech Improvement.

   

Non-verbal communication tips for professors, human resource, and other professionals

Do you work closely with others, and need to understand the "whole picture" of their communication? Ninety-three percent of communication is non-verbal; you can't afford to miss all of this!

Non-verbal communication is affected by culture and to some extent, by generation. However, this article on "Student Nonverbal Communication in the Classroom" by Brock E Perry, PhD at http://www.usma.edu/cfe/literature/barry_11.pdf    gives you the general tips you need to

"read" general American communication. Although it is about students, it is a great overview of non-verbal communication for everyone else!

              

Communication Tips: Leaving Better Voice Mails and Remembering Names

One problem that often occurs is speaking fast when giving your name and telephone number as you leave a voice mail message. You as the speaker know your information, and  you say it quickly. Speakers forget that it takes longer to write it down than to say it. To be more professional about it, write your telephone number or spell your name in the air as you say it slowly on the phone message. This is the speed that the listener needs. As a benefit, you may get more calls returned!) Then repeat your number at the end of the message, at a slightly faster pace.

 When meeting someone new, it may be hard to remember the other person's name. When you hear it for the first time, think about it and try to use the name in the first sentence, as in "It's great to meet you, Pat!"

 When you end the conversation, use the other person's name again. This may help you to recall the name when you see the person again.

Problem-Solving: Different Strategies for Solving It

Think of the biggest, most frustrating problem you have. You've thought about it endlessly, and can't come up with a workable solution. Now think about a "kitchen cabinet", a term invented by the opponents of President Jackson. The "kitchen cabinet" is a group of people as diverse as you can think of, who can consider your problem from different angles. They may be diverse in their ages, genders, race, ethnicity, professions or trades, where they were raised, or any other way. Ideally they all meet together once or twice, but if not, maybe they can meet online.

The Ideo company in "The Art of Innovation" uses diverse groups when starting a project, putting together a multi-disciplinary team from many fields. Some other companies do this as well. Why can't you do it as well?

Many business leaders participate in "mastermind" groups, carefully selected from non-competitors, who can advise each other over a year or longer. Often only 1 person per industry is allowed in a group.

Another strategy to improve idea generation is to encourage employees to choose the problem they would like to help solve. Increased motivation can lead to better results; people work harder to resolve a problem that is important to them.

A third strategy is to run a silent brainstorming session. This research-based method, done using a specific format, neatly sidesteps many of the problems with the traditional brainstorming technique.

These strategies and more are part of the Executive Communication seminar offered by Business Speech Improvement. It is available on request to individuals and small groups.

Public speaking: Worried about answering difficult questions after a presentation?

Many would-be public speakers are hesitant to give a speech because they are afraid that they will not be able to answer a difficult question posed afterwards by a member of the audience. They do not want to "lose face" before an audience.

If this is your concern, here are some strategies you can use. First, when preparing your speech, consider the special interests of a given audience, and anticipate what questions they might have. For example, if you are speaking to an audience of lawyers on land use practices in your community, search online for "legal aspects of land use + (name of the community)". Possibly interview an expert on the subject in the state or county government ahead of time. Credit him or her in your remarks, by saying "as X, an expert in Y, says, ..."Write down the answers and practice giving them in a simulated talk.

Always repeat the question into the microphone before answering it. Depending on the acoustics of the auditorium, the noise level inside and outside of it, and the hearing acuity of the audience, there is a very good chance that the question was not clearly heard by everyone. Repeating the question also gives you time to think about the answer.

Let's say the worst happens, and an audience member asks you a question that you did not anticipate. Here you have three great options, and one back one.

First, explain you would be happy to look into this question and get back to the person quickly with the answer.  Invite the questioner to come up to you afterwards and give you his business card with the question written on the back of it. Another option is to say to the audience, "Is there anyone in the room who has expertise in this particular aspect of the topic?" A third option is to focus on the part of the question you can answer, and acknowledge that you need to do more research on the rest of the question. (Some politicians ignore most of the question, segueing into one of their talking points instead. "The important aspect of this is that..." Alert members of the media and the rest of the audience usually notice this ploy and comment negatively on it later.)

A speaker cannot be expected to be expert on every aspect of a topic, especially if it is only vaguely related to the main aspect of the talk. Use the strategies above and confidently step up to the microphone!

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching in public speaking, accent modification, pronunciation, executive communication strategies and more. Coaching is available online in selected cases. 
For those who prefer e-books, our concise e-book Public Speaking:You Can Do It!. is available 24/7. It has practical tips that can be used immediately.

Delegating: Tips to Do It Right

A mother was shopping in a supermarket with her two young children. She told her little boy to "behave". The child said earnestly, "I be good, Mommy!"

Then he went back to chasing his sister, and the mother scolded him. He apparently did not know what exact behaviors she expected.

In a corporate setting, when a manager warns his new employee to do a "excellent" job on a task, does she know what his idea of "excellent" is?

For example, does it mean proof-reading a document twice (and having someone else do it once), using certain photos, including the details on the new project, or some other expectations?

As a leader, it is your job to make your expectations very clear. Your employees cannot mind-read. If you make your requests clear, you have a greater chance of having them be achieved.

Delegation is part of many leaders' jobs. Clear delegation includes not only the details to be accomplished, but also the time-frame. The leader needs to understand how often he must check with each person on his team to answer questions and make sure the work is being done correctly.

If the task is important enough to be done, it should be done right. A good leader delegates the right task to the right person, with a clear explanation and time-frame.

Business Speech Improvement offers an e-book on Executive Communication Strategies, with techniques on 18 vital areas of communication. It's the book you'll wish your boss had read! Learn more about this powerful e-book now!