How to build a dialogue with a client?
Whether you're talking to a potential buyer over the phone or in person, remember that first impressions matter a lot. The further course of the conversation depends on him. There are a number of rules used to build a successful dialogue. One of the most important is client management . You must take an active position in the conversation, ask questions aimed at identifying the needs of a potential buyer, talk about the advantages and differences of the product from analogues offered by competitors.
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is of great importance . Your speech should not look like a boring monologue; it is necessary to involve the client in the conversation, while controlling the flow of the conversation. A potential buyer will feel comfortable if you do not argue with him or put pressure on him, trying to sell the product quickly. The presentation needs to be done beautifully, describing in detail all the advantages that the client will receive by purchasing the product from you. Give your client business-like compliments, this will move the conversation in a positive direction. And most importantly, remember that openness and goodwill are the basis of professional communication.
Types of obvious conflict personalities
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It is very uncomfortable to communicate with obvious conflicters, but their motives are not difficult to understand. ● “Thunder and Lightning.” Complete choleric. First he screams, then he thinks. For him, a quarrel and a scandal are a life-giving environment. It both discharges and recharges from you. Knowing these characteristics of his, you can play along with him without getting involved internally. ● “Navel of the Earth”. He needs to be the center of attention. Even when everyone is angry with him, he is pleased: firstly, they noticed, and secondly, he likes to admire his own passive pose. It is useful to put his desire for fame into a peaceful channel, for example, to engage in social activities.\ ● “Offended.” He is “underestimated” and “undeservedly criticized.” Suspicious and inflexible, he loves quiet but endless squabbles. It would be useful for him to be in a situation that would shake him up. Or help others who have an even more difficult time.
How to behave during a conversation?
The correct behavior of a company employee is very important. The client will be much more willing to make a purchase if the conversation is relaxed. It is important to smile at your interlocutor, look him in the eyes, and show interest. The main thing is to sincerely try to help the consumer solve his problem.
In the process of communication, you cannot speak monotonously and without emotion. A boring monologue will be interrupted by the client mid-sentence. Most likely, such a buyer will leave the company and make an acquisition where they can interest him. You can't speak too fast or slow. Try to find the optimal speech rate . Enterprise employees should develop diction . Clarity of speech is important for understanding what you want to convey to the interlocutor. Specialists who are fluent in professional terminology and have a large vocabulary are much more trustworthy. The psychology of communication with clients is based on the importance of questions in conversation and the correct use of the consumer’s name. It is important to remember that a person must be addressed in a polite manner, by name and patronymic. During the conversation, you need to listen carefully to the client. If he wants to tell you about his personal problems, do not interrupt him. Just try to bring the conversation back to the subject of the transaction. Ask open-ended questions that will stimulate a person to give as detailed an answer as possible.
Types of hidden conflict personalities
Photo: Burda-media
It is more difficult to identify a conflicter who appears to be quite harmless. They rarely attack themselves, but often bring matters to a boiling point. ● “Kindersurprise”. He seems happy with everything, smiles and nods. And then suddenly it can explode - and it turns out that everything that is happening has been in his liver for a long time! Be careful with it, as with an explosive substance. ● “Neat guy.” He will plague you with nagging, and every harmless remark will be anxiously “chewed” for a month. Unlike the eccentric “thunder and lightning”, he is logical. Therefore, one can not perceive his claims as a provocation for a scandal, but explain them gently and clearly. ● “Quiet.” Outwardly absolutely non-conflicting. I’m ready to say and do things that I don’t consider necessary, as long as they don’t touch me. Fearing to touch the spark, he allows it to smolder and, with his indecision, leads to a fire. It would be a good idea to bring this person out for an honest discussion of problems as they arise.
How to properly talk about a product or service?
There are situations when an employee just begins to tell a client about the product or service offered, and he already becomes bored. How to correctly present a product and build a dialogue in order to turn a distrustful person into a permanent, loyal customer? The first task facing the seller is to attract the attention and interest of the client . Inform him about the arrival of a new model, promotions and discounts, and then focus on the positive characteristics and advantages of the product being offered. If a person wants to buy a laptop, then he needs to find out what is his priority and how much he expects to spend on the purchase.
Having identified the client’s needs, focus only on those points that interest him. You should not bore him with a large amount of uninteresting information, if, of course, you want to make a deal. The last step is to encourage the potential buyer to take action , i.e., to make a purchase, and handle objections. Even if you have not completed the task of selling a product or service, remain polite and friendly towards the client. If a person has a pleasant impression of the quality of service, he will definitely contact the company next time, and thus you will achieve your goal in the long term. Thus, the problem of communication in psychology is very important not only for improving interpersonal relationships, but also for business development.
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Clients prefer to contact via social networks and instant messengers
During 2020, the number of digital requests increased by 35%, and it became obvious that we did not devote enough time to this area.
It was necessary to rebuild the work, increase efficiency in many respects, train people and automate processes in order not only to cope with the flow of incoming customers, but also to increase customer loyalty while reducing service costs.
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We started with simple questions: who are these people who contact us through social networks, instant messengers, chats, and what do they want? And we found out that the main audience of digital channels has become millennials - a new generation of clients who grew up in a digital environment.
They expect from their operator:
- comfortable and convenient interaction,
- efficiency,
- professional assistance in resolving issues at the first request.
Having analyzed requests, communication format and behavior, we discovered a number of features that distinguish digital channels from “voice”, and for which we were not yet ready.
Signs of a conflicted person
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In the cocktail of qualities that make up the “explosive”, we can also highlight: ● inadequate self-esteem and assessment of others: most often, the first is overestimated, and the second underestimated; ● the desire to dominate: a person believes that he is right and tries to impose his values on others; ● conservatism: since the instilled attitudes do not make it possible to realize that people can be different.
Customer Service: 15 Essential Skills
But by selecting suitable specialists for customer service, you can develop a whole range of necessary skills in them.
Patience
The ability to be patient is almost a core skill for customer service professionals. After all, customers who contact support are often confused and disappointed. Therefore, you need to listen to them and properly build communications with them. Thanks to this attentive attitude, customers feel that you are not just processing a request or complaint, but that you really want to help them.
But patience is also important for business as a whole, because the association of a company with excellent customer service is much more important than isolated examples of fast service. It is not enough to stop interacting with customers as quickly as possible. You must be willing to listen to them and understand everyone's problems and needs.
Attentiveness
The ability to listen to customers is critical to delivering quality service for a number of reasons. It is important to take an interest not only in the experiences of individual clients, but also in general to be attentive to the feedback you receive.
Clients often do not express their opinions directly. For example, your online store may not be well designed for user experience. And if you think that customers will line up to point out this flaw to you, then you are mistaken. True, they may hint at problems with phrases like “I can never find the search function on this site” or “where did this function disappear again?”
Therefore, you must be careful to understand what customers are saying unless they clearly indicate problems.
Ability to formulate proposals clearly
It is important to remember that certain communication habits influence a client's decision. Be careful when formulating your proposal and do not create ambiguity.
Example: A customer goes to an auto repair shop and is told that if he wants an oil change, that service will be included in the final bill. The client believes that he will receive this service for free. If he starts asking clarifying questions, the employee will probably apologize and explain that he was misunderstood. But the client is unlikely to return to this auto repair shop, since he does not want to take risks in the future. What if next time he misunderstands the seller?
Product knowledge
Experienced customer service representatives typically know their company's products very well. They understand the smallest details and therefore understand how to help clients when they face specific problems.
So if you want to take your company's customer service to the next level, you'll have to spend time getting to know your products better and learning to put yourself in the shoes of the customers who use them every day.
That is why every new employee of the company must be trained in working with clients for at least a week - this is the most important part of the onboarding process for newcomers.
Ability to use a positive communication style
Effective customer service also includes making minor changes to conversational patterns.
The fact is that speech is the basis of persuasion, and people, especially customers, form ideas about a company based on the speech of its employees.
Let's imagine that a customer contacts a company employee because he is interested in a specific product, but this product will not be delivered to the warehouse until next month.
Answering a question in a positive way can greatly influence how the client perceives the answer.
- No positive: “We won’t be able to deliver this product to you until the end of the month. It's out of stock."
This example in itself is not negative, but the tone it conveys seems harsh and impersonal and can be misinterpreted by customers, especially in situations where customer support is provided via email, in which case the perception of written language is often distorted.
- On the positive side: “This product will be available next month. I can capture your order right now and ensure that delivery is arranged as soon as it arrives at the warehouse.”
The second example indicates the same problem—out of stock. But because the message focuses on when and how the problem will be solved, it is perceived in a positive way.
Customer service at a standstill
When a company doesn't pay enough attention to customer service, it ends up in a dead end. How does this happen?
According to the author of the book “Business: Restart. 25 ways to reach a new level" by Barry Moltz, this situation is possible in three cases:
- You diligently attract new clients, investing all your resources in this, and at this time the old clients you have forgotten go to your competitors.
- You believe that customer service is a necessary evil. That's why you ignore letters and calls from clients. Are you sure they can only complain and ask for discounts?
- You want to replicate the Amazon or Zappos service model. And since you don’t have the resources for this, you stop paying attention to customer service.
Acting
Sometimes you will meet people who cannot be made happy with impeccable service because they simply like to complain or they had a bad day.
These situations are usually beyond your control, but they become part of the routine from time to time. Therefore, every customer service specialist needs basic acting skills to always keep a good face, be positive and not get irritated even in the most difficult situations.
Time management
In the case of time, a dilemma arises. On the one hand, it's good when you are patient and give your clients enough time to get to the bottom of their problems. On the other hand, you need to remember reasonable time limits. The challenge is to ensure that customers get what they want in an efficient way.
To do this, you need time management skills: do not waste time trying to do everything possible for the client in situations in which you are poorly oriented. Better switch him to another specialist.
Ability to read customer moods
You don't always meet clients face to face, and in many cases you don't even hear their voice. But this does not mean that you do not need knowledge of some basic principles of behavioral psychology and the ability to read the client’s emotional state.
Look for little clues in your interlocutor’s behavior and speech about his mood, character traits, and personality. This will help you maintain positive interactions.
Equanimity
This characteristic refers to the ability of some people to remain calm and even calm others when situations get out of control. In this case, it is important not to allow the client, who is in despair, to lose his composure. He may think that the world is falling apart, but you must be his support.
Purposefulness of actions
There is an opinion that for effective customer service it is enough to simply respond positively to customer requests and create a wow effect during communications. But this approach does not always bring the profit that a business expects.
It follows that employees should always have clear goals. But business goals and customer happiness can be integrated into a single whole while maintaining service levels.
Ability to resolve unexpected problems
Not all problems that specialists encounter in practice are spelled out in scripts. It also happens that the client reacts to your arguments differently than you expect. Such cases must be foreseen in advance.
Let's say you want to develop a quick action plan in case a client has a problem that you have never dealt with before. Things to think about:
- Who can help you? Decide who will be your consultant when you don't know what to do. Determine the logical chain so that the situation does not take you by surprise.
- What problems are beyond your areas of expertise? Why are you going to redirect some questions to other employees? How will you do this: convey the entire conversation with the client, only the important parts, or maybe the main points?
- How will you contact the other employee? You can send questions by mail or make a mark in correspondence.
Persuasion Skills
You often receive emails from people who don't need support. They are contacting you because they are considering purchasing a product. And at this moment you will need persuasion skills. You need to convince stakeholders that your product is right for them (if it is).
This isn't about promoting a product in every follow-up email, it's about not letting prospects slip through the cracks.
Perseverance
Professional ethics and the willingness to do what is required, without being limited by templates, is a key skill to provide quality service.
The most unusual customer service stories are often remembered precisely because they have a huge impact on the business. At the same time, behind them there is, as a rule, one employee who, at the moment when it came to specific help, refused to follow the standard algorithm of actions.
Remember that your clients are people too.
Ability to properly end a conversation
Concluding a conversation with a client in a way that meets all their expectations and leaves them feeling that all their problems have been taken care of is a difficult task. But for this you need to keep the client informed of the situation with his question.
Your willingness to dive into the problem demonstrates three important things to the client:
- You care about making sure everything is done right.
- You are willing to continue until you solve the problem.
- The client has rights.
You must understand that communication with the client ends only when he says: “Thank you, I’m fine!”
Willingness to learn
Although this is the most general skill on this list, it is one of the most important. Because the desire to learn provides the basis for the development of other professional skills.
You must be willing to learn the product, strive to improve communications, and try to respond appropriately to customer problems.
