The following post is courtesy of Diane Harrison who is principal and owner of Panegyric Marketing, a strategic marketing communications firm founded in 2002 specializing in alternative assets.
One of the selling skill intangibles in marketing is the ability to read a prospect’s nonverbal cues. If you don’t listen to how they are reacting to what you are saying and fine tune your approach to them, it almost doesn’t matter what information you provide.
Generally, if you can deliver information that’s important and attractive to someone in a way that lands favorably in their comfort zone for selling, you will achieve greater success than if you just hammer away in your preferred style and hope for a volume over value approach. As Marshall McLuhan coined back in 1964, ‘The medium is the message.’
KEY REASONS TO PAY ATTENTION TO HOW YOU COMMUNICATE
Read the room. What does your prospect want and how do they show receptivity to what you are saying? Understanding who it is you are trying to influence and what context clues they are providing as you communicate will allow you to show more empathy to their needs, provide more details where they are wanted, turn up your energy or dial back to frame your information with a quieter delivery.
Know yourself and how to adapt. Before you can match your delivery style to what will work best with others, you must have a solid understanding of how you operate. Charles Schwab’s website provides an article, ‘5 influencing styles—and how to use them effectively’ that uses research from Chris Musselwhite, founder of Discovery Learning Inc., and Tammie Plouffe, managing partner of Innovative Pathways, to provide insight into 5 key influencing styles:
BRIDGING: People who use a bridging style of influence tend to motivate by using reciprocity, consultation, and personal relationships.
RATIONALIZING: People with a rationalizing influencing style tend to use logic and reasoning to try to persuade others.
ASSERTING: Those with an asserting influencing style tend to use authority and assurance as their way of motivating others.
INSPIRING: Those with an inspiring influencing style use example and comradery to motivate others.
NEGOTIATING: People with a negotiating influencing style tend to search for a middle ground as a way to motivate others.
DIALOGING IS A FLUID PROCESS
The general styles above cover most communication approaches, but there are other factors to consider when learning to adapt your default style to a different approach favored by your prospect.
- Are they more of a Big Picture person, or a down-with-the-details, data-driven type?
- Are they process-oriented, meaning they enjoy understanding how something works, what the steps are to the end goal, etc.?
- Is your prospect an interpersonal connector who values building a relationship and trust bridge before getting into the actual messaging?
If you learn to read the cues you are receiving from your audience and adjust your approach to tailor it to what seems best suited to the individual situation, your sales efforts will almost certainly see the improvement such fine-tuning can make.
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