Copyright (c) 2007 Audrey Burton
In my lifetime, I was fired quite a few times before
getting my degree, and was laid off three times after. I
know that I was often fired because of poor communication
skills. I learned; I built my character; I survived.
By the time I got my most recent job, at Nestlé, I had made
many mistakes, and had not had the communications training
I needed to survive – and thrive. I had never worked at a
really big corporation before, and definitely got the
education I needed.
The biggest lesson I learned was how to keep my mouth shut.
When I did need to talk, I learned that great
communication depends on 4 essential components: what you
say, how you say it, when you say it and to whom you say
it. Think about the best way for the recipient to receive
your message.
While at Nestlé, we were encouraged to take personal
development classes and I took as many as I could. Often,
we put ourselves into groups, quadrants or types (like
directive or avoider), then we worked on how best to
communicate with people of different types.
If you will take the time to notice, you will see that
people in particular professions sometimes have a lot in
common – including communication styles. This is true in a
corporate environment and certainly it is true for
entrepreneurs. CPAs are different than wedding planners
are different than acupuncturists.
When communicating with someone in a certain profession or
industry, you can often make a positive impression more
easily by using languaging – using words that they commonly
use. So when communicating with a healer, you can use
words like diagnose, prognosis, treatment, etc., in your
sales pitch. This makes a sometimes subconscious emotional
connection with them. They connect with you and they may
not even know why!
When creating a sales script or sales meeting agenda, keep
languaging in mind. This becomes second nature if you
market to a specific target – you get to know the people in
your target very well, making the emotional connection
easier and easier.
When networking, good communication skills can really
advance your progress. The point of networking is to build
relationships either with direct prospects or referral
sources. The most critical skill to cultivate is listening.
When people first meet you, they really don’t care about
you, only what you can do for them. They will often tell
you in the first 2 minutes whether they could use your
services, suck the life out of you or be a good prospect
for a strategic alliance.
Also, by asking them for their information first, you can
customize what you tell them when it’s your turn. If you
find that they are not someone you want to get to know
better (sometimes you really can tell immediately), get out
of there! Don’t waste any more time with them. You can
always claim you have to go to the bathroom or make a call.
Finally, while it should be a given, look them in the eye,
give a firm handshake, ask for their business card and
smile!
In all your marketing strategies, your goal is typically
for the prospect to listen to your sales pitch. If we are
unable to get the relationship started, we can’t get the
‘yes’, and the faster the relationship can be established,
using great communications skills, the faster we can get
the YES!
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Audrey Burton, Small Business Coach, is “The Tigressâ€. Get
her FREE Special Report, “Closing the Sale is Not
Complicated!†and her FREE monthly email newsletter at
http://www.TigressCoaching.com .
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