Dale Carnegie, in his classic book, “how to win friends and influence people”, has this to say:
“Remember that the people you are talking to are a hundred times more interested in themselves and their wants and problems than they are in you and your problems. A person’s toothache means more to that person than a famine in China that kills a million people. A boil on one’s neck interests one more than forty earthquakes in Africa. Think of that the next time you start a conversation.”
So, when you approach a colleague or customer, the question you should ask is how you can be of value to them. Everyone in this world wants to have their own way and achieve whatever they want. They are not interested in you or your problems. If you are going to talk of their benefit, there is no way they will refuse to talk to you. But if you behave like everyone and talks about yourself and your problems, no one is going to listen to you at all.
You can follow a few steps to make your colleagues and customers listen to you so that you can have achieved your aim and have more sales for your business.
Firstly, you should be honest and view things from their angle. You should think about what they want. It is not necessary that what you presume as their needs may be something different from what they really want. Mostly, both your assessment and their needs may coincide.
You should be prepared to do your homework before you meet a customer. You can visit the website of the customer to know their product line, what they are up to, what their future plans are and who their key decision-makers are. These details will give you sufficient points for discussion during the course of your negotiation and interaction with them.
Whenever you get a chance to appreciate your colleagues or customers, you should do so honestly. You cannot be phony while appreciating because that can easily be detected.
When you do the homework before meeting a customer, you should delve deep and find out more about the things they may need from you. This will provide you with a strong arsenal of better questions that can be asked from them so that you can know exactly what they need. If you get deeper answers from them, you can easily find out their requirements.
You must always try to come up with solutions that create a win-win situation. If you help the customers to zero in on the right solutions for their needs, you are sure to clinch the deal from them. Likewise, if you help your colleagues to grow, you can firm up your relationship with them.
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