Words are everything… and equally as important is how you say those words, especially to your customers.
As professionals and business owners, it may be tricky at times to figure out what to say and how to speak to your target audience, but this article will guide you in the right direction.
You’ll learn negative behaviours to be aware of, along with tips for engaging with your customers in a positive way and how the DiSC personality assessment can benefit your business by uncovering how you and they prefer to behave.
“It’s as much how you say it as what you say that counts…” – Elmer Wheeler
Elmer Wheeler (1903 to 1968), Author, Speaker, Sales Expert and often described as the greatest sales person in the world created the five Wheelerpoints:
1. Don’t sell the steak – sell the sizzle!
2. Don’t write – telegraph.
3. Say it with flowers.
4. Don’t ask if, ask which! (questions)
5. Watch your bark.
Wheelerpoints number 4: Watch Your Bark
““It’s as much how you say it as what you say that counts…” – Elmer Wheeler
Bad behaviours to be aware of/to avoid:
- People often behave differently online, saying things they wouldn’t even think of saying to someone’s face. It’s sensible to remember to only say things online that you would say in a real, face to face conversation.
- Don’t be supercilious, be humble. Acting as though you are superior to someone (your suppliers, customers, staff, etc.) is not the way to do business. An easy way to remember this is, “if you think you are better than someone, you are a silly arse. If you think you are better than everyone you are a super silly arse”
Tips for effectively communicating with your customers:
- Remember: What’s on your mind isn’t what is on theirs… Try to put yourself in their shoes.
- Everything you say online is public – What first impression do you want to give?
- Customers are allowed to change their mind and mess you around – Try to create a model that means they pay for the friction.
- Be nice to people if you want them to give you money.
- Create your tone of voice!
Challenge:
Do some brainstorming and figure out what your tone is. How do you want to sound and how do you want to be perceived by your customers?
Once you have your tone right, the next thing to focus on is making sure you have practical steps in place to build rapport with your audience. Building rapport is about speaking directly to and having a conversation with your customer. This can be done in different ways with different media channels, like Facebook, Twitter, or WhatsApp. We know when we have good rapport with someone when there is agreement and resonance in our conversations.
The key piece of advice to keep in mind is to treat people as they want to be treated. We’re all different, yes, but we’re not as different as we think we are. We’re only human, so we should speak to each other as such and with respect.
How to Assess Your Behaviour
DiSC is a well-regarded behaviour assessment tool, which is used a lot to help people understand the behaviour of themselves, their customers, and people within their business.
This assessment measures where we are on the spectrum from Active and Fast-Paced to Thoughtful and Moderate-Paced, as well as where we are on the spectrum from Questioning to Accepting. DiSC is made up of four behaviour types, which gives us four behavioural tendencies: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness.
Once you understand these four types of people, you will see that each of them want to make decisions and be communicated with differently.
- Someone with a Dominance behavioural tendency wants you to get to the point.
- Someone who has an Influential behavioural tendency wants you to be fun, humorous, and exciting in your engagement.
- Someone with a Steadiness behavioural tendency requires a moderate pace of coercion and a more empathetic interaction.
- With someone who has a Conscientiousness behavioural tendency, be prepared to have an in-depth, detailed conversation.If you don’t know the details, be honest with them and they’ll respect your honesty and willingness to go get the details for them.
Challenge:
How do you like to be treated? Where do you think you are in terms of DiSC? Better yet, take the assessment for free here!
Now that you know your ideal tone of voice and how to assess your behaviour with DiSC, along with practical tips for engaging with your customers in a positive way, you can be sure your bark is just the right volume and pitch. Remember, “It’s as much how you say it as what you say that counts…”
Has this article got you thinking about your business and how you want to grab the reins and drive it forward but you struggle to find the time or feel that you lack the skills or knowledge to do so?
Are you looking at your screen wondering how or if Good2Great could possibly help you to build a better future for you and your company?
If so, why not check out free ways to learn more either in the fun but growth focussed ‘Friday Hub Zoom Room’ or let’s meet and chat about your business – it’s our passion after all! Just click this link, it will show you availability in my calendar – just grab a slot that suits you and it will automatically set up and schedule a Zoom meeting and send all the necessary invitations to calendars and email… https://bit.ly/discovery_meet_30
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