How to conduct business negotiations with a client or supplier? Techniques for conducting telephone conversations. Psychology of communication with clients

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I noticed that articles about how to speak on the phone correctly and in general, behave with the client. Therefore, I decided to write another article on this topic. We all go to meetings. Some more often, some less often. And the question constantly arises: how should one behave? How to respond to a potential client's behavior? How to “sell” them your idea, product, service? This is exactly what this article will discuss.

I am sure that one should always behave with dignity, regardless of the client himself. I'm sure these are 10 simple principles will help you conclude successful deals and increase your status in the eyes of any client, even if they haven’t bought anything now. But the goal of a good sales manager is not to sell here and now, and then come what may. The goal of a good salesperson is to build long-term, trusting relationships. So these are the principles.

1. Be on time for meetings.

Of course, you say. What's new here? This goes without saying. That’s how it is, but you can’t imagine how few people follow this simple rule. You can always refer to traffic jams, urgent matters, unforeseen circumstances. That’s how it is, but it shouldn’t concern your client. Is there a chance of getting stuck in a traffic jam? Leave early. For an hour. For two. It's all your problem, but if you promised to be at 10.00, be there at 9.55.

By the way, on time – I mean +/-5 minutes. It’s also not worth arriving an hour early. If you arrive early, take a walk around or sit in a cafe if the weather doesn’t allow it. After all, the person you came to meet with may also be busy. Of course, everything depends on the relationship with this company and this particular person. But we are considering general rules, and they say - come exactly when you are expected. Namely, for the time agreed upon.

2. Don't wait too long

So, you came to the meeting on time. And the secretary tells you that there is a meeting now and you need to wait a little. The situation is not easy. I usually wait 10-15 minutes, and then tell the secretary that in 15 minutes I need to leave, and if I can’t meet with you, I need to reschedule the meeting.

Of course there are different situations, agree. But still, if you don’t respect yourself and your time, why will the client respect you? There are other motives here. If you can be made to wait, then in the future you can also delay your payment, the shipment of goods, and in general, you will wait.

You cannot put yourself in such a situation. The client must understand that you did not just come, you had an agreed upon time. This rather puts the client in a negative light. Of course, this does not mean that you need to leave and slam doors. You need to make it clear that you still have meetings, apologize that this happened and find out when you can come next time so that your client is free.

3. Don't let people talk down to you

The client’s favorite “trick” is to show that they are awesome, and just the fact that they are meeting with you is already a big favor. This is especially true for large clients. Many people, especially young people, immediately “settle” when they hear such an arrogant tone (on an intuitive level). Well, there’s also psychological pressure - you came to SUCH a cool company, SUCH a person talks to you, and what about you? You are nothing...

I'll tell you a story. When I just graduated from university, as I already wrote, I worked in the marketing department of a real estate agency. And here on New Year, we decided to hold a promotion - gifts from Foxtrot to each client for approximately $100 (standard trick: buy an apartment, get a kettle as a gift). I came, waited for half an hour, and such a scary AUNT came out to me, and with an expression like “Who are you, boy? We - largest network in Ukraine, and you opened a couple of months ago. In short, I went into the field.” Well, I went and, of course, in upset feelings I called the founders...

After 2 days they called me back, invited me, and silently accepted all the conditions. And although they looked at me with an incendiary gaze, everything went fine.

The essence of this fable is this: throw everything away negative thoughts. Firstly, for every large company there is always an even larger one. Secondly, this particular person is not the founder, not the owner, or even a TOP manager, but a simple hired worker. And you are an expert in your field. Respect yourself, put aside arrogance, and answer all the client’s criticisms clearly and reasonably (more on this later).

4. Keep in mind the main thing - you are not asking for money, but want to solve the client’s problems

The main problem I encountered at meetings was that clients for some reason thought that I had come to ask them for money new car(or bicycle). You must immediately explain that you are not asking for anything and that you actually came to solve the client’s problem for a reasonable (read justified) money.

This is especially difficult in areas with a small markup. In particular, contextual advertising. The client is sure that you simply put the money he pays you into your pocket. On average in the market, the markup is 10%. Those. having paid you, say, 1000 dollars, your income will be only 100. The client is sure that he has just fed your pocket for the entire 1000. In this case, you should focus not on what the client gives, but on the fact that he receives. That is, say specifically - these are 2000 targeted, interested potential clients on your website. Moreover, with the help of analytics we can analyze their behavior and find out their strengths and weaknesses.

Another example is consulting (marketing, legal, medical). Here, in general, the client thinks that he is paying for air. Therefore, in in this case it is important to focus on something real and significant: a set of specific recommendations, a list of laws with transcripts, detailed description diseases and list of medications.

5. You are a professional in your field, and you know better how to do it

The client’s favorite trick is to invite you and start teaching you how and what. You should perceive the client's wishes as recommendations, and not a direct guide to action. Remember that you are a professional, and that is why the client plans to cooperate with you.

It often happens that a client imposes his wrong ideas on you. Don’t be afraid to object to him, but only with reason. You will say, yes, the idea is clear, but I think we will do it this way and that, because...
You shouldn’t completely ignore everything they tell you, but doing it 1-on-1 is also extremely dangerous.

6. Come to the meeting prepared

A common mistake is to come to a meeting, get acquainted and just talk. You know where you are going, what is expected of you, and, of course, you know your services and costs. Therefore, during a meeting, even the first one, you must give the client more or less specific answers on price, terms and other conditions. Of course, this should not be the final price. But general idea, nevertheless, the client must receive.

Now, thanks to the Internet, you can find a lot of information about almost any company. Therefore, do not be lazy, try to find out in advance what kind of company it is, its position in the market, customer reviews, main services, promotional materials, etc. All this will be your trump card at the meeting.

7. “Yes, we have worked with similar companies”

The favorite question of a client who wants to catch you is: “Do you have experience working with similar projects?” At the same time, everyone hints at something different - uniqueness in their industry, the size of the company, the peculiarity of the field, etc. It might look like this:

– Well, have you previously made websites for the production of children's green cubes measuring 3 by 3? - hints at its uniqueness and complexity of production. Your answer - yes, we made a website for a toy store, which also included cubes;
– Have you worked with large retail portals before? - in this case, the client hints that they are very large and he doubts your professionalism. Your answer is yes, just last month we worked with the AAA portal, the average daily traffic of which exceeded 150,000 per day.

Your goal in this case is to show the client that you understand the topic and try to translate it into a plane that is familiar to you. Or by the proximity of topics, or by the size of the company, or by some other criterion.
In general, be sure to have some samples or portfolio with you.

8. Don’t get involved with “compensation”

Let's move on to the gray side of advertising power. In this business, it is quite common to reward managers for choosing you as a contractor (the so-called compensation). Moreover, there are terrible numbers, up to 30-50% of the entire budget.

I admit honestly, at the very beginning, when I was just starting out, and profit was not particularly important to me, but first of all I needed turnover and solid clients in my portfolio, I contacted several very large companies on such conditions. But over time, their appetites grew, along with their demands. Overall, they were pleased with the work. But we are not very good. Despite the enormous amount of work, we worked from scratch (all profits went to “rewards”). We couldn’t break the contract ourselves, but all levels of managers were satisfied with the clients (some with a bonus, some with work). As a result, we had to sharply increase the price several times, and then the clients left on their own. Since then I have not contacted anyone and do not recommend it to anyone.

First, it has a negative impact on you and the market. Secondly, if something happens, you will be the last one.

9. Think a hundred times before subscribing to the State Order

I give this advice purely out of good intentions. With orders from state or municipal services, everything is very complicated. You must understand that in our country almost every official has his own interest in any matter. Most often, contracts are awarded to related companies. Therefore, if they unexpectedly contact you, look for a catch. Perhaps they need someone to blame for a failure (which ALREADY happened), or to show how poorly you work, but that company (where the director is the son of this official) works perfectly.

Well, or the same huge compensation. In any case, you need to be very careful here. Consider yourself running on minefield. At night. Drunk. From a sniper.

10. Believe in yourself and the quality of your work

And the last thing I would like to advise you. Go to a meeting with a client at good mood. Consider the meeting not as a danger, but solely as an opportunity: a new client, an interesting acquaintance, invaluable experience.

In addition, be confident in your abilities, the quality of your services, and the adequacy of your prices. Sometimes it happens that a manager, when offering services, seems to apologize. Like, sorry it's so expensive. Or, sorry that we are disrupting your supplies. You can't do that. You need to KNOW that your services are of high quality, and that these services are WORTH the money.

Good afternoon, dear readers! Overall success The company largely depends on the ability of employees to communicate with customers. And it’s not just about personal communication, but also about telephone conversations, business correspondence, searching for and accompanying potential clients. Today I want to talk not only about how to behave with clients, but also tell you a few secrets for gaining trust, describe the techniques of competent communication and tell you what to do in a difficult situation when a client makes complaints, is rude and rude.

Main operating principles

Just being sociable is not enough to properly build a dialogue with the client. You need to develop yours and constantly improve in this direction if you want to achieve success. And here we're talking about not just about sales. Every type of business has clients.

That is why you will find Gavin Kennedy's book extremely useful. You can agree on everything! How to achieve the maximum in any negotiations».

It doesn’t matter whether you communicate with a client over the phone or in person, you need to remember two rules. First, you need to borrow active position. You conduct a conversation with the client, ask clarifying questions, take an interest, ask again, give a detailed description of the various options.

Second, pay attention to the backlash every time. This is not your premiere evening and the dialogue should not turn into a boring and monotonous monologue. Always try to involve the client.

It is important to achieve an atmosphere where a person feels comfortable, because that is when you can win him over to your side. But as soon as he suspects that you just want to quickly “shove” a product or service into him, he will run away from you.

Watch your speech carefully. The principle of sincerity is very important here. If you really want to help the client solve his problem, then he will feel at ease and free around you. And this is the first step towards trusting communication.

Smile, look into the eyes, do not argue or put pressure on the person. Let him make his own decision. And you just gently push him towards this decision. Don't speak too fast or too slow. Work on your diction, you must be understood. Constantly enrich your vocabulary, both casual and professional.

Never be familiar with clients, especially new ones. Always be polite and respectful. It is best to address by first name and patronymic, unless the person himself offers another option. Never interrupt a person; you should always listen to the end and only then answer. try to ask open questions.

Remember, your task is not just to pull out as much as possible more money from a client, but to interest him, make him a loyal customer, and achieve constant cooperation.

Useful tricks

Find common language with the client. This means that you need to try to talk to the person as clearly as possible, so that he understands you and is not embarrassed because he does not know some professional terms. Of course, if a specialist is standing in front of you, the conversation will take place at a different level.

But if this ordinary person ignorant in your field, then you should not bombard him with complex and incomprehensible words in order to make an impression. You'll only scare him away.

Keep up the brand. You - official companies. Therefore, you should always maintain a business-like tone and not allow yourself to become familiar or rude. If in front of you is a pompous comrade whose “fingers are bent” or, conversely, the most modest of modest people, then you should not imitate their behavior in order to achieve mutual understanding. You are a professional.

Is the customer always right? Why does an ordinary person turn to you for a service? Because he considers you qualified in this matter, more professional than him. Prove it. If there is an opportunity to do a little more for a person, then don’t think about it, just do it.

Earning a reputation is hard work, which is then well rewarded. It’s not for nothing that they say that then your reputation itself will work for you.

Excessive pressure. If you are offering a long-term relationship rather than a one-time purchase, then you should never put pressure on customers. Give them time to think, analyze all the information, mature and make a decision.

Useful techniques for a meeting

Being late. Never allow yourself to make someone wait for you. It seems like a simple rule of business communication, but, to our deepest regret, few people follow it today. Try to take into account traffic jams and possible force majeure. Of course, it makes no sense to arrive an hour before the meeting.

The best option is plus/minus five minutes from the appointed time. And if it happens that you are late, then be sure to warn your client.

The other side of the coin. If you arrive on time and the person is delayed, then you have the right to leave after 15-20 minutes. Always value your time. It’s better to just make an appointment for another day than to sit waiting for several hours.

Don't hesitate. Often there are comrades who show with all their appearance that I am such a cool guy here, but who are you, boy? Don't panic and don't get lost. You need to calmly continue the conversation in a businesslike tone, be confident and not doubt yourself.

Preparation. You should always come prepared to a meeting or negotiation with a client. Try to work it out possible questions on his part, take additional materials. Your task is to provide as specific answers as possible to any questions from potential clients.

In addition, it will be useful to find out something about your client, if, say, this is another company with which you need to conclude an agreement on mutual cooperation.

If things have already reached the point of assault, then feel free to call security and ask them to take the person out of the premises.
Problematic clients are hard to deal with, but that's your job. Try to hear the reason for his dissatisfaction. At the same time, try to remain calm and collected. Let the person feel that his emotional reaction is not capable of making you angry.

Never take the words of such comrades personally. Often a person just needs to throw out his negativity, and it just so happens that today it’s you. It is always worth remembering that the person is dissatisfied with the service or product, and not with you personally.

When the person lets off steam and speaks out, repeat to him all his complaints that you heard in his heated monologue. Make sure you understand it correctly. Say that you sympathize and understand him. Take his side, try to understand how you feel when you find yourself in his position. An apology will always be beneficial.

You should have a solution to your client's problem ready in your head. It's best to offer several options. If none of them is suitable, then you can ask what way out of the situation he himself sees. In this case, it is best to act immediately.

After such a situation, you definitely need time to recover a little. The negative flow of energy should not linger inside you. Take a breather and go have some coffee or tea.

Do you often encounter dissatisfied customers? How do you communicate with the seller, acting as a client yourself?

I wish you every success and good luck!

The success of any business is inextricably linked with the company's personnel. It would be more accurate to say that every employee of the company must master the art of psychology of communicating with clients. In the article we will look at the basic principles of how staff should build communication with clients, how to motivate a person to make a purchase, and other subtleties.

It should be immediately noted that an employee’s sociability does not mean that he is proficient. The conversation should be structured in such a way that the consumer will certainly make a purchase, and most importantly, return to the company again. For this purpose, organizations periodically conduct training on the psychology of communication with customers.

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 - 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.
Great value has feedback. 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...

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 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 a conversation, correct use consumer 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.

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 attention and interest the client. Tell him about the arrival of a new model, promotions and discounts, then focus his attention on positive characteristics and the benefits of the product 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. Last step - motivate a potential buyer to action, i.e., to make a purchase, and process 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 remains pleasant impression about the quality of service, he will definitely contact the company next time, and thus you will achieve your goal in the long term. Thus, it is very important not only to improve interpersonal relationships, but also for business development.

Instructions

Show genuine interest in the person you are talking to.

Be careful, try to communicate in his language (use images that he understands, use his terminology), and do not forget to demonstrate your professional competence.

Address your opponent by patronymic, without allowing yourself familiarity or vague address.

Let him know that you are on his side and will try to help him.

Please note

Don’t get carried away with the now fashionable adjustments and mirroring. Doing this in an intrusive and inept manner will only alienate customers and cause irritation.
Knowing how to talk to clients without causing such a reaction will help you achieve best results in promoting their interests.

Useful advice

Do not forget to greet and say goodbye to the client, expressing greetings and wishes sincerely.
Remember - the best seller is not the one who actively offers the product, but the one who offers the client the optimal solution to his personal problem.

Sources:

• how to talk to the manager

Your personal success and the income of the company you work for as a whole largely depend on how correctly you build communication with your current and potential clients.

Instructions

Even if you have a lot of work and a huge list of clients, you should not tell each of them how many other buyers are in front of him in the queue. Do everything in your power to make the client feel your special affection and feel chosen. Of course, it is worth respecting the feeling self-esteem, otherwise the person will not see you as a person. Be calm and polite, but do not talk to the person obsequiously.

When selling a product or service, first find out the client’s needs, and only then proceed to the presentation. Some managers make a big mistake. They don’t understand why the person came to them, what prompted the company to contact their organization, and they immediately begin to offer something. Such a sale may not take place precisely because in this case the seller did not identify the buyer’s needs. Find out what your client’s situation is, what he expects, and only then start presenting your product or service.

When responding to client objections, follow certain rules. Don't argue with the buyer. Listen to his doubt or claim to the end. Don't interrupt the client, let him speak. Then demonstrate that you share his concerns and that his question is valid. If this is impossible, then at least simply show that you understand the client. You can ask clarifying questions to clarify the situation. Then answer the objection clearly, clearly, and with reason. Check whether the client understood you and clarify whether you have dispelled his doubts.

Treating your customers well is based on how you perceive them. If you treat your customers solely as cash cows, you're unlikely to have productive interactions. And when you talk to the buyer with respect, attention and sincere interest, demonstrate your disposition and desire to help, he feels it.

Classmates

From this article you will learn:

• What you need to know about proper communication with a client
• How to turn communication with a client into your company's golden fund
• What are the best communication techniques to use with clients?
• What not to do when communicating with a client

Today, business relationships between people around the world are based mainly on trade. This can be not only the sale of goods, but also services, copyrights, etc. Thus, our society is divided into buyers and sellers who are in constant interaction with each other. And the success of all trade transactions depends on how high-quality this cooperation will be, how competent the communication with clients will be. Of course, this is not the only criterion for success. trading business, first of all, the quality of the product or service itself is important. But many shortcomings can be compensated with the help of proper communication. A buyer who is satisfied with the service will definitely come back to you again rather than go to competitors. And, conversely, if your staff is not attentive enough to visitors or is rude, the buyer will not cross the threshold of your store again, no matter how high the quality of the product. This article will touch on all the nuances of interaction with consumers, provide examples of correct communication, consider phrases that should not be used, and will also examine various techniques, successful from a psychological point of view. The article will help you build a competent sequence when communicating with a client and attract new customers.

How to establish proper communication with clients

Regardless of how communication with the client is structured - through telephone communication or is it a personal contact - it is the first impression that plays a fundamental role and ultimately influences the outcome of the conversation. Here it is important to follow a number of rules, as well as adhere to the sequence of stages when interacting with the consumer. The most important rule– directing the conversation in the direction you want and guiding the interlocutor. You need to not only be able to tell him about the advantages of your product and service and the benefits of cooperation with you, but also ask the right questions in a timely manner in order to identify the client’s needs and preferences.

Communication should be open and friendly: you should not raise your voice, argue, put pressure on the buyer, impose your product on him, or be overly annoying. But it is important to be the leader of the conversation and be able to keep everything under control. It is important to conduct a dialogue, involving the interlocutor in communication, and not just speak a memorized boring speech. You need to interest him in your product or service, as well as gain confidence and persuade him to interact with you.

How to properly clarify customer objections? Find out in the training program

How to behave during a conversation

The correct line of staff behavior plays big role. The likelihood of a purchase will increase significantly if the manager’s cooperation with the client is successful. It is important to show proper and at the same time unobtrusive attention to the buyer, showing him that you are interested in him being satisfied. To do this, you need to be able to win over your interlocutor using a smile and a friendly tone. Emotionality in communication is also very important: the buyer will not show interest in either you or the product if you speak in a monotone. If you use the right emotions during a conversation, this will help interest the interlocutor and make the dialogue more lively and relaxed.

Every salesperson needs to have good diction. It is important not only to know what exactly needs to be said to the buyer, but also to be able to do it clearly and correctly. The manager must not have a speech impediment. The buyer should see in front of him a real professional who knows how to talk about the product, answer all his questions, and with whom it is pleasant to have a conversation. No one is interested in an insecure employee who cannot put two words together. When communicating with a client, it is also important to get to know him and in the future address him by name. This psychological technique helps to win over the interlocutor, giving the communication a more personal character. It is very important to listen to the buyer and in no case interrupt him, but at the same time direct the conversation in the right direction if he begins to move away from the main topic.

How to properly talk about a product or service

Difficulties often arise when communicating with a sales client at the very first stage of the conversation - he is initially not interested in hearing about the product. How to advantageously present your product or service to the buyer? Main task– get him interested in the product and draw attention to your company. People love stocks and special offers, and you can’t help but use this to attract new customers, as well as retain existing ones. When communicating with the consumer, tell them about ongoing promotions, explain all the benefits of purchasing this particular product, and interest them in a new product that has recently entered the market. Find out the needs and interests of the client in order to offer a product that is suitable for him, meeting all his wishes and requirements.

Having decided on the buyer’s requirements, focus his attention exclusively on those details that interest him. There is no need to overload your interlocutor with an excessive amount of information in which he will only get confused. During communication, it will be sufficient to correctly place emphasis and describe the product precisely according to those parameters that are interesting to the client. Final stage– work through all the potential buyer’s objections, thereby dispelling his doubts and encouraging him to make a purchase. Even if the consumer, after communicating with you, refuses to purchase a product or pay for a service, you need to remain friendly and polite towards him. Then there is very high probability that the visitor will come to you in the future, remembering your professionalism and desire to help with the choice. Therefore, comply correct sequence stages when communicating with a client are very important if you want to grow your business.

Simple rules for communicating with clients

There are many examples of successful sales, when a person just went to a store for fun, and after talking with an employee trading floor went out with the purchase. This speaks of professionalism and high level seller training. Many consumers need to be nudged into making a purchase. For this purpose, specialists in the field of trade and psychology have developed a number of rules. If sales managers follow them, the company's turnover will definitely increase.

1. Customer focus. The most important thing when communicating with a client is to convince him that you are pursuing his interests, not your own, and really want to help him. This will build trust in the buyer and help win him over. Openness and goodwill are some of the main keys to success. You need to be especially careful in those moments when the visitor asks you questions. Answers should be as informative and detailed as possible. You need to show that the buyer is important to you, and you are ready to answer all his questions. Indifferent, dry remarks will leave a bad impression of the quality of service.

There are several ways to show your interest:

• When talking with a buyer, your attention should be focused only on him. You cannot be distracted by extraneous matters;
• communication should be emotionally charged. It is important that the interlocutor sees a living person in front of him, and not a robot;
• when communicating, you need to look your interlocutor in the eyes;
• it is important to conduct a dialogue, encouraging the client not only to listen, but also to speak;
• It is necessary to give as much information about the product as valuable to the buyer as possible, but at the same time be careful not to overload with unnecessary information.

When communicating with the buyer, try to speak in a language that is as understandable to him as possible. There is no need to delve into professional terminology that a person does not understand. If we are talking, for example, about a blender, it is not necessary to say that its power is 1500 watts. This information may be completely useless to the client. It will be much better if you list the main products that can be crushed with it. So you'll talk about technical specifications goods, but they will be clear not only to you, but also to the buyer.

1. Don't stoop to the client's level. At first glance, this is quite strange advice, because the first rule says that you need to speak to the buyer in his language. This is undeniable. This rule created only to warn you against the possibility of a conflict brewing when communicating with a client. The contingent of buyers is completely different, and not all of them know how to communicate adequately, allowing themselves the use of profanity and rudeness. It is in these cases that one should not be like ill-mannered people and respond with aggression. It is important to be able to remain calm and find the strength to always be polite and friendly. The reputation of the company you work for depends on it.
2. The customer is always right. This is a long-worn rule that all sales managers have learned by heart. But it is not entirely correct. Every seller understands that in fact the client is very right in rare cases. Most potential buyers don't know what they really want and understand your store's products much less well than you. You are the owner of the store, not the client, and it is you who are in charge here, because everything that happens to him depends on you: whether he can find the product he needs, whether he leaves with the purchase. But the buyer should under no circumstances know this. He must believe that only he is truly right.
3. Don't insist. When offering your product or service, do not go too far and do not be too intrusive. There is no need to put pressure on the buyer, forcing him to make a choice and make a purchase right now, if it is noticeable that he is not ready to do this. A person should not have the impression that you imposed a product that he did not need at all.
4. Don't get lost. If we are not talking about a one-time sale, but long-term cooperation (regular deliveries of goods, construction, large projects, etc.), a very important rule for communicating with the company’s clients is to always be in touch. Firstly, the customer may want to know how the work is progressing and at what stage of the process, whether everything is going according to plan and whether he should worry. Secondly, the client may want to make some amendments to the original project plan. Keeping in touch is in your best interest. If the customer remains dissatisfied with the result of the work on which you spent more than one day, it will be much more difficult to correct everything than if checks and adjustments were made in intermediate stages.

These five rules of communication will help you not only find the right approach and win over any buyer for a conversation, but also bring him to the conclusion of the transaction.

Basic generally accepted standards of communication with clients

Every self-respecting organization must develop internal regulations and standards for communication with the company’s clients. They are aimed at properly establishing a dialogue with the buyer and building a competent sequence of stages of communication with him. This article will describe the basic standards on the basis of which you can develop your own regulations.

1. Emotional attitude and openness to the client. The employees of the sales floor or sales office should look so that the visitor wants to contact them. Here we are not talking about the external characteristics of the staff, which, by the way, is also important, but specifically about the image of a friendly manager, ready to advise and help. Sellers, of course, are people too and have the right to be in a bad mood, but this should not in any way affect communication with clients. Bad mood should be left at home or on the street, and at the workplace the employee should be with a friendly smile, and not scare away visitors with a sour expression on his face.

2. The client should not wait. There is hardly a person who dreams of sitting in line for an hour or two. Waiting is painful for anyone. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your customer service is structured in such a way that there are as few waiting visitors as possible. If there are such people, you need to show maximum care for those who are waiting for their turn. First, you need to apologize to the person and clarify how long it will take to serve him. Often this is important, since perhaps at this time he will be able to resolve some of his other matters. It is also necessary to keep the guest occupied with something if he is waiting for his turn in the hall: this could be magazines, catalogues, tea, coffee. The most important thing is that a situation does not arise: a visitor came in, but you did not pay attention to him because you were busy. It is important to meet the client and let him know that he will definitely be served.

3. Be able to conduct a dialogue. To win over your interlocutor and impress him, you need not only to be tactful with him, but also in relation to your competitors. You should not compare your product with someone else’s, pointing out the disadvantages of others and your advantages. You are unlikely to build trust if you discuss your competitors. There is also no need to engage in excessive self-promotion: this will look like boasting and exaggeration of existing advantages.

It is better to avoid large monologues, lengthy descriptions and explanations. It is worth remembering the main characteristics and advantages of a particular product and conveying the essence to the buyer without overloading him with unnecessary information. If you talk too much and for a long time, then, firstly, you can easily get confused yourself, and secondly, you can quickly tire the client. So that the visitor does not get tired of listening to you, you need to communicate with him in the form of dialogue, ask questions, and involve him in the conversation.

4. Be able to hear and listen. These similar concepts are somewhat different, because listening and hearing are different things, and a true professional in trading and in communicating with clients must know these differences. Listening is the ability to demonstrate to your interlocutor that you are listening. Exists special equipment active listening, which anyone can master: you need to look into the eyes, nod, and not interrupt.

The ability to hear is the ability not only to listen to a person, but also to understand everything that he wanted to convey to you. Understanding the buyer during communication with him is often very difficult. Many factors play a role here: people see the same things differently, a person does not always have sufficient knowledge to correctly express his thoughts and wishes. In such cases, you need to be able to unobtrusively get to the bottom of the truth, ask leading questions, and find out as many details and details as possible. Sometimes it’s enough just to put yourself in the shoes of your interlocutor and look at the question through his eyes. When you master the ability to listen to people, you will not only be able to quickly help the buyer solve his problem, but you will also be able to easily manipulate him, which is useful for the seller.

5. Address the client by name. How can you win over your interlocutor with just one word? Say his name. A banal truth that has great success in communicating with the client. When you address a person by name, it creates a more comfortable, inviting and trusting atmosphere for him, and also emphasizes the importance of this particular buyer to you.

6. Don't lie. Your reputation will be completely damaged if you are caught in a lie. Never exaggerate the merits of a product or say something that is not actually true. Even a small lie can cause irreparable harm and lead to loss of trust on the part of the client.

7. Always do a little more than required. A very simple, but at the same time effective technique. Exceeding consumer expectations is quite easy. You need to pay him a little more attention, provide an additional, even the most insignificant, service, pleasantly surprise him, and he will become your regular customer. The more you do for the buyer in the form of some kind of additional bonus, the more you will receive in return. He will be more willing and with great interest to talk to you about further cooperation if you charm him with your special attitude.

Consistent stages of communication with the client

Stage 1. “Making contact” or “Establishing contact”

Any sale or transaction is impossible without this stage.

Goal: to attract the attention of a potential buyer to yourself and encourage further communication.

Before moving on to identifying the client’s needs, it is recommended to resort to communicating with him on abstract topics. Exists a whole series techniques for establishing contact with the visitor. You can offer tea, coffee, make a couple of compliments, etc.

It is very easy to understand whether you managed to establish contact with the buyer by his actions. If he actively enters into communication, reacts positively to the words and actions of the seller, behaves at ease and relaxed, we can conclude that a connection has been established. If the client is tense, tense, avoids communication, answers questions dryly and briefly, and looks away, this indicates that it was not possible to establish contact. In this case, the stage of making contact needs to be given more attention, using various techniques.

Stage 2. Identifying needs

Goal: to identify the client’s preferences and wishes.

The more accurately the manager is able to identify the buyer’s preferences, the more favorable he will be able to present the product, which will ultimately lead to a purchase.

To find out the client’s needs, the manager must use the correct sequence when communicating with him, be able to ask necessary questions, listen and understand the interlocutor.

Stage 3. Presentation

Goal: to offer exactly what the buyer needs, based on his needs identified at the second stage of communication.

When presenting a product or service, the main thing is to convey to the client the benefits of purchasing the product. It is important here not to confuse the concepts of “benefit” and “advantage”.

Advantage– this is the benefit of this particular product in comparison with analogues. Anyone who purchases this product will receive this benefit.

Benefit- this is a feature or characteristic of a product that can satisfy the specific need of this particular buyer.

Thus, knowing all the needs identified during communication with the visitor, all that remains is to correctly present the product, which in its characteristics corresponds to the client’s wishes. It turns out that any product parameters can be beneficial for a certain client.

Stage 4. Dealing with objections

Purpose: to dispel the buyer’s doubts about the quality of the product or its compliance with the requirements, as well as the need for the purchase.

The better the previous stages of interaction with the client are worked out, the fewer objections will follow. Perhaps the manager will conduct all communication so correctly that he will not encounter any objections at all.

Often objections are related to the fact that:

• not all buyer needs were identified;
• Initially, poor contact was established and insufficient time was spent communicating with the client;
• the presentation was uninformative and could not give full description goods, and thereby answer all the buyer’s questions.

Every manager who wants to achieve success in sales should try to minimize the number of objections, because their excess is a signal of a poorly done job of interacting with the client.

It will not always be possible to completely avoid objections, so you need to learn to respond to them correctly and take appropriate measures.

Strictly adhere to the scheme for handling objections:

• listen to the buyer's objection;
• smooth out his emotions by using phrases of understanding (“I understand your indignation”, “Yes, I agree that it’s unpleasant...”, “I understand what it’s like...”, “I understand you”);
• obtain the necessary clarification through leading questions;
• offer an alternative solution to the problem.

Stage 5. Completion of the transaction

Goal: to bring the buyer to make a purchase and confirm the correctness of his decision.

At the transaction completion stage, you need to make sure that the client is ready to make a purchase. The manager can judge this by his behavior:

• the client has already formed a positive opinion about the product;
• he agrees with the manager's words;
• directly says that he is ready to purchase goods or enter into an agreement for the provision of services;
• interested in clarifying details.

Transaction completion methods:

• compliment method (“You did right choice»);
• a method that sets a certain time frame (“If you make a purchase within three days, you will be given a 20% discount”);
• a win-win alternative (“Send measurers to you tomorrow or Friday?”).

The company's turnover directly depends on the professionalism of the customer service manager. The more skills and techniques he has, the more sales he will ultimately be able to make. Therefore, it is important to constantly train your staff and improve the skills of employees, send them to training sessions and lectures, develop and motivate them.

Psychology of communication with clients: effective techniques for working with difficult consumers

Thanks to difficult clients you can quickly identify and eliminate the shortcomings of your company, because such visitors will rush to point them out to you. The principle of working with such clients is to neutralize the pressure they exert, rather than ignore it, and at the same time be able to transform them into the status of loyal customers.

• Rudeness and aggressiveness of the client.

When communicating with a client, you should never become like him if he behaves unworthily. In response to rudeness, abuse, disrespectful statements and gestures, he should see only your friendliness and calmness. You cannot allow your interlocutor to make you angry.

Rudeness is used in cases where there are no other ways to prove one’s innocence or defend one’s interests. When a person has tried all other methods, used all the arguments and lost patience, he begins to be rude. Therefore, such harshness does not express the strength of the interlocutor, but only indicates his helplessness.

When dealing with such customers, it is important to give them the opportunity to blow off steam and show them that you are ready to solve the problem. You need to listen to the client without interrupting him. The right thing to do is to put aside all emotions and, without paying attention to the presentation of information, get to the core of the issue. To do this, you need to show your interlocutor that you are ready to listen to him calmly, no matter how much he swears, that you do not intend to argue, but want to help in solving the problem.

In the event that a scandal occurs in front of other visitors, try to take the client away as quickly as possible in order to continue communication in private or as far as possible from strangers.

• Softness, shyness.

There are types of people who will not make contact themselves because they are shy, do not want to distract, or are very shy by nature. When a manager communicates with such clients, he needs to show as much gentleness as possible: no pressure, more of a smile, encouraging remarks, pushing him to make a decision. Such a buyer needs to be led and guided, helped to make a choice and at the same time be very tactful and unobtrusive.

• Client's indecisiveness.

Do not confuse indecisive people with soft ones. Indecisive customers are mainly those who are afraid of making a mistake, and therefore cannot make a choice or decide whether they need a purchase in principle. Such buyers will constantly question their decision made, clarify details, seek advice again and again. It is difficult for them to choose just one thing. They will rush between different models of the same product and will not be able to select the one that suits them, because they will doubt that it is the best. When dealing with such clients, you need to intentionally narrow your choice. You shouldn’t offer them six options at once; it’s enough to focus their attention on two, and only if they refuse these options, offer the other two. This way you will help customers make the right choice, and the purchase will not drag on for several days.

Such clients should also not be put under pressure or rushed. In no case show that you are tired of their indecisiveness, but on the contrary, try to encourage and support their desire to make the right choice. When communicating with a buyer, you need to instill confidence in him, dispelling his every doubt.

To encourage an indecisive person to make a purchase, it is often not enough just to present the product correctly. Additional tools must be used. In this case, you need to point out the limited quantity of this product, the upcoming price increase, or something else that will make the buyer understand that they should not delay the purchase, but should hurry up and make a decision.

More intermediate fixations mean more chances to reach an agreement as a whole. To prevent the client from changing his mind in the future, say that work on the agreed upon issues is already underway. Sometimes this is done on purpose so that the buyer does not return to this again. It’s better for him to be scared and refuse altogether than to endlessly deal with his doubts, wasting time and not being sure that the deal will go through.

• Familiarity.

There is a category of visitors who themselves have an excellent command of techniques for communicating with people and methods of manipulating them. They will behave overly friendly, trying to arouse your sympathy and thereby achieve a special favor towards themselves, in the hope of receiving some personal bonuses. The manager’s task during communication with such clients is to show that he is also friendly and ready to cooperate, but adhere to business style communication, demonstrating professionalism and seriousness.

• Talkativeness.

As in life, at work you can often encounter a chatty client. It is quite difficult to conduct a dialogue with such a person. Nevertheless, you need to try to focus his attention on your proposal and control the communication process. Here you need to have time to competently insert your lines into long monologues during pauses, without interrupting your interlocutor.

Ask leading questions that bring the buyer back to the topic of conversation, focus his attention on the product. Do not try to say more than the interlocutor, strive to say the most important thing. Your task is not to talk the client down, but to convey the essence to him.

• Client's silence.

A chatterbox can be contrasted with a silent visitor. The difficulty in communicating with such clients is that sometimes it is not easy to understand the person’s reaction to your words. Here it is important not to go into a long monologue, but to involve your interlocutor in dialogue, asking his opinion and encouraging him to communicate. It is best to provide information in portions, constantly monitoring the buyer’s reaction.

You need to ask as many questions as possible that identify the person’s needs, and in those rare moments when he speaks, listen carefully to him. The Echo method will work great here. The essence of it is repetition. last words interlocutor.

• Demonstration of competence.

This buyer is well versed in your product and is familiar with its properties and characteristics. He will rush to demonstrate his knowledge during communication, considering this to be dignity and superiority. You need to be tactful and not try to compete with him, proving that you are more knowledgeable. Give him the opportunity to show off his knowledge. Try to have a casual conversation, ask questions and be an attentive listener.

If the buyer expresses his personal opinion about a specific product, clarify what exactly it is based on. To do this, use the following questions: “Why did you decide this?”, “What is the reason for this?” Try to translate the buyer’s personal attitude towards the product into a set of specific arguments. It will be much easier to respond to them than to try to convince your interlocutor.

If during communication with a client you notice that he is mistaken, you do not need to directly point out the mistake and try to correct him immediately, as this may cause a dispute. Remember that your task is to sell a product, not to impose your opinion.

What rules dictate the ethics of communication with clients?

Professional ethics of communication with clients includes the following rules:

• always be able to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and under no circumstances allow him to be treated in a way that you would not like to receive;
• if an ethical violation occurs, correct it immediately as soon as it is identified;
• maintaining tolerance of company employees to the moral principles, customs and traditions of other organizations and the surrounding world as a whole;
• have your own opinion, but understand that it is not the only one that has the right to exist;
• freedom that does not limit the freedom of others;
• ethical professional behavior of the employee, which leads to the development of the organization from a moral point of view;
• When communicating with a client, it is not allowed to put pressure on him or display his superiority in the behavior of the manager;
• everyone possible ways find a compromise and avoid conflict;
• the employee must not only behave correctly from an ethical point of view, but also encourage the client to do so;
• Avoid criticism of your interlocutor.

When communicating with clients you cannot:

• throw mud at competitors. You shouldn’t discuss your competitors or talk badly about them, even if it’s true. If the client himself asks your opinion about a particular company, your review of it should be as neutral as possible, and it would be most correct to refer to your ignorance of how things are going with competitors. The client's opinion about third parties should be formed without your participation;
• use slang. Often employees communicate with each other and understand each other perfectly, but from the outside it seems as if they speak foreign language. It will be difficult for the visitor to understand you and correctly navigate your terms. Therefore, communication with clients must be conducted in a language they understand. Sometimes it’s even better to show clearly what you are trying to convey to your interlocutor;
• let your emotions control you. No matter how difficult the interlocutor may be, no matter how much he tries to piss you off, your main rule is to remain calm. We are all, of course, living people and have the right to emotions, but not the client manager. In response to any of his actions, the consumer should see only your goodwill and no irritability or aggression.

How should you communicate with a client over the phone?

When communicating with a client on the phone, the most main role intonation plays. The impression of a conversation is formed in the first 20 seconds of communication. During this same time, the person decides whether he wants to continue the dialogue with you. Therefore, you need to pay attention to how you present information: your voice must be confident and your speech clear.

The structure of a telephone conversation is something like this:

Preparing for the conversation:

The telephone conversation itself:

There are many techniques for communicating with clients over the phone. One of them is based on identifying the interlocutor’s main sense organ for perceiving information. The fact is that to understand the world around us, we all use hearing, vision, touch, kinesthetics, and smell. But every person has a leading way of perceiving the world, by identifying which you can easily interest the client. You can determine the leading modality based on a conversation with him.

Examples of client statements indicating the predominance of one or another way of perceiving the world:

• visual: “It looks attractive”, “This description seems vague to me”, “I see it this way...”, “Let's try to shed some light on this problem”;
• auditory:“I heard you”, “Everything is happening out of sync”, “It sounds like a good idea”, “I just can’t tune in to what you’re saying”;
• kinesthetic (motor, motor):“Try to weigh everything carefully”, “I feel that I can do this”, “He gives off warmth”, “This is a very slippery situation”;
• olfactory:“It would be great to give this a good try,” “I just smelled a solution.”

For many people, the priority way of receiving information is visual, and this is easy to understand by the use of verbs that define visualization: “see”, “imagine”, “seems”, “observe”, “appears”, “decorate”, “looks”, etc. d. Such people perceive better what they see than what they hear. They prefer to watch rather than listen to descriptions, even the most detailed ones. During communication, clients will record important points: they love it very much illustrative examples, draw up an action plan, take notes.

Auditory orientation is characteristic of a much smaller number of people. When communicating with such consumers, you will hear verbs related to hearing: “heard”, “sounds”, “pronounced”, “crackles”, “creaks”, etc. These interlocutors have good auditory memory and are able to remember most of the conversation without any notes or notes on paper. Such people love to communicate, but are also easily distracted by extraneous sounds.

A very small group of people are oriented towards a kinesthetic style of communication. When speaking, they often use verbs: “building”, “creating”, “using”, etc. Such people need to be constantly on the move; it is difficult for them to sit in one place. They show expression in communication, actively using facial expressions and gestures.

How to establish online communication with clients

You need to join your circle target audience and make contact with her. To do this, they use various thematic blogs, pages that a person must subscribe to, all kinds of mailings and subscriptions. Create a team of like-minded people and actively communicate with their leaders.

Use your data, prepare for meetings with your team:

• select a few of the most important ones at the moment questions (three to five);
• check out the profiles of your interlocutor on social networks;
• make up psychological portrait person, indicate on paper your assumptions about him;
• decide what exactly is important for you to get from a person and how to build communication with the client.

Communication via e-mail:

• Seamless pick-up. If there is a need to replace a manager leading a specific client (vacation, sick leave, load distribution), this replacement should occur unnoticed by the consumer. For this new manager must become familiar with all the nuances of conducting a transaction. The previous employee, who is aware of all matters, must help him with this. He must transfer all related materials regarding this buyer and tell as much as possible about the details of the work carried out and upcoming work with him.
• You cannot change the subject of the email. During correspondence, the subject line of the letter should remain as it was originally. Then the client and you will have the opportunity to filter this particular correspondence from other letters. If you change the subject even a little, the letter will not get into the filter and will be lost. If any correspondence comes to logical conclusion, and there is a need to continue communication with the consumer on other issues, a new topic is assigned to the conversation.
• Talking topic. The topic should be structured in such a way as to convey the essence of the entire conversation.
• Reply all. In the case when several interlocutors are involved in the correspondence, it is necessary to use the “Reply all” function when responding to letters so that all participants in the conversation are involved in it and are aware of what is happening.
• ResumeAndcall to action. At the end of each letter, summarize and remind what result you want to achieve. This is how you program the client’s actions to achieve your goals.
• Resume after communication on Skype. After finishing communicating with a client on Skype, the correct thing to do is to send him a letter describing the essence of the conversation and summing up the results. This way, you will be sure that no one will forget what you said.
• Last word. Always try to ensure that the communication is completed by you. To do this, it is enough to use the following phrases at the end of communication: “Thank you for your cooperation!”, “Thank you for your time!”, “Have a good day!”

Classic phrases for communicating with clients for all occasions

1. Incoming call(external/internal).

• Greeting (external):“Good afternoon/morning/evening, company (name), position, department, name, I’m listening to you.”
• Greeting (internal):“Good afternoon/morning/evening, position, department, name, I’m listening to you.”
• Phrases excluded:“How can I help”, “I’m listening”, “You’ve got it”, “(company name) is listening”, “Hello”, “At the machine”.

2. Outgoing call new client.

• “Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name).”
• “Please tell me who I can talk to about organizing staff training?”
• “Please tell me who in your company is in charge of purchasing?”

3. Outgoing call to the current client.

• Phrases excluded:“Do you recognize me?”, “Can I disturb you?”, “He’s calling you,” “Sorry for disturbing you.”

4. Outgoing call to an old client who needs to be returned.

• “Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name), can I talk to (full name)?” If necessary, you can clarify what issue you are talking about.
• “Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name). Is it convenient for you to talk now?”
• If the answer is yes:"Thank you! We have already collaborated with you (what kind of cooperation exactly), we would like to continue cooperation. Tell me, please, are you interested in (clarification)?”
• Phrases excluded: “Calling you,” “Worriing you.”
• If the answer is negative:“When can I call you back, so that it is convenient for you (to clarify the time and date)?”

5. The client came to the office.

• Unfamiliar client, greeting:“Good afternoon/morning/evening, (come in/take a seat)”, “I’m listening to you.”
• Phrases excluded:“Who are you seeing?”, “Man!”, “Woman!”, “Who are you looking for?”; Phrases not recommended:“Can I help you with something?”, “Are you looking for something/someone?”
• Familiar:“Good afternoon/morning/evening, (come in/have a seat)”, “Nice to see you.”

6. Meeting at the client's office.

• Unfamiliar client:“Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name), can I meet with (full name)?” If necessary, clarify on what issue.
• Familiar client: " Good afternoon/morning/evening, First name/last name/patronymic of the client, glad to see you” (you can give a compliment).

7. Ending the conversation.

• By phone or in person:“It was a pleasure to talk to you! All the best, have a good day/week/weekend!” etc.