How many times has it been that you find yourself trying to get into your client’s head and understanding them? If you’re a salesperson or an entrepreneur this probably happens to you every single day.
The problem here is that it’s difficult to understand what your client wants to say or convey. And to get things more stressful is the fact that if you can’t let your clients open up then you can’t actually turn that prospect into a customer. And even if you’re reselling to the customer and you aren’t able to understand their current needs, it’s possible you don’t retain their business.
People aren’t always easy to decipher. You need to put yourself into the client’s shoes and understand them so they feel comfortable opening up to you, connecting to you, trusting you, and providing you information. We have brought you some ideas and tips which will help you understand your clients much better and also help grow your business.
1. Be an Active Listener
2. Build Rapport/Trust
3. Be Attentive
4. Understand the Client’s Vision
5. Research the Competition
6. Keep Track of the Trends
7. Follow up for Feedback
FAQs
1. Be an Active Listener
In most cases, the problem lies not with the failure to talk to the client, but it’s with the failure to listen closely to what he/she is saying. To provide the correct and relevant information you need to understand the client. And don’t just listen to reply to them, but to understand their way of thinking.
When you listen closely to clients, they provide you with information and trust you, then you may present your pitch accordingly and even though this doesn’t provide you with an opportunity to sell, this provides an opportunity to be a valuable asset to your client to advice and for guidance.
2. Build Rapport/Trust
If you’re looking for a long-time profitable relationship with the client, it shouldn’t be all about business. Don’t get right down to the sales pitch. Try to make the client comfortable, like, and trust you. Let your guard down, let the customer connect to you, relate to you, and use it for the sales advantage.
Building rapport is very important in sales. One should never stop building, even when you’re trying to sell.
3. Be Attentive
When interacting with the clients’ it’s important to remember that it’s not about you, it’s about them and the client should be doing most of the talking. When the client is talking, you may find the urge to respond, resist the urge and let the client talk otherwise it derails the whole conversation. The more you listen to the clients, the more you understand their ideas about you and how can you be useful to them.
Speak only when you need to correct or clarify what the client is saying. Set your priority to understand the customer, not to speak about the product. This helps in establishing a strong connection and hence, more sales.
4. Undertsand the Client’s Vision
One of the easiest ways to understand your client is to find out what they’re looking for. Find out what is it that they want and what is it that they’re trying to achieve.
If it’s B2B, try to find out what do they want the business and where do they want to take it. What goals have they set for the growth of the business?
If it’s B2C, try to find out what do they hope to achieve with your product or brand. What are they aiming for?
It’s easy to know what the customer might need at the time but it’s important to know where do they want to be in the future and what’s getting in their way from reaching there. Knowing their vision will help you help them.
5. Research the Competition
Just about every client out there will have competition. Try to find out who the competitors are, find out where they may have stumbled upon and use that to your advantage. You can avoid making the same mistakes and level the field if not anything else.
Look at the important areas pricing, user experience, feedbacks, user expectations, etc.
6. Keep Track of the Trends
Try to keep track of trends in the market and how you manage their positive and negative impacts on your clients in a professional relationship. Through this, you’ll be able to assist your clients well. It is also an excellent way of checking work processes and throwing out the flaws if any. Try to use every experience to better yourself.
7. Follow up for Feedback
In hectic times, we forget to be in touch with others. Consistent communication with the clients is a very good way to maintain client relationships positively. Even if you feel a client is not exactly satisfied, don’t run away instead try to reach out and connect to them and get to know how can you better yourself. Trust is an important asset for keeping long-term client relations. Clients who are most satisfied can also provide valuable feedback.
Developing positive relationships with clients is very important, this means understanding their needs, offering smart and impactful solutions to their problems. Try to become a valuable asset and advisor to every client that comes your way. Always try to keep a channel open for dialogues with the clients, this provides an upper hand.
Dev Gupta
Conclusion
The most important step for a successful sales engagement is to understand who you’re dealing with, what do they want, how do they want whatever they want. Having a good knowledge of your prospect is invaluable. Without knowing who your client really is, you’re just firing blanks.
The better you know your client, the better you can pitch your sale. It’s very important to know who you’re selling to and you can only know that when you try to understand your prospect. All these will make you perform better and increase your sales hence, growing your business.
Use these tips to truly understand your clients, deepen client relationships and user experience. This will definitely increase your engagement and put you at the top of your client’s lists.
FAQs
Why is understanding your client important?
Understanding your clients is important because providing customers with good service will build your relationship stronger with the customer and they will help you get more leads.
What are the ways of communicating with clients?
The most effective ways to communicate with customers are E-mail, Website, Text Messaging, Web Chat, and Social Media.
What factors most influence the prioritisation of clients’ needs?
Factors that influence prioritization include client condition, safety factors, available time, and client preferences.
