5 Ways to Communicate Effectively With Your Customers

In today’s fast paced world we tend to forget about listening to our customers and really communicating with them. You can have the best advertising strategies around and know how to market a product with the best of them – but without effective one-on-one communication you won’t build relationships – and that can affect your bottom line.

So here are 5 ways to communicate effectively with your customers, build relationships and find out the needs of your customer:

1. Maintain eye contact

This doesn’t mean to stare your customers down and make them feel uncomfortable, but avoiding eye contact is seen as avoidance at best and lying at its worst. When you avoid eye contact the other person feels unimportant and ignored. They know they do not have your full attention.

Have you ever been with someone and felt like telling them to look at you when they are talking to you? Didn’t you feel frustrated and maybe angry? Well that is the last thing you want a customer to feel. So make sure you face your customer and maintain sufficient eye contact to put them at ease.

2. Do not interrupt

No-one likes to be constantly interrupted by another person. And answering mobile phones in the middle of a conversation is a particularly unwelcome habit. By interrupting you are saying that the other person’s opinion or needs are not important – that what you have to say is more worthy.

You are in this conversation because you want to discover the customers’ needs and their problems so you can offer them the best product or service to fulfil their needs and solve their problem. So keep quiet. Do not interrupt. And make the sale.

3. Actively listen

Don’t let your mind wander to what you are having for lunch or other daily concerns you may have. Focus on this one customer and listen to them. Listen well enough so that you are able to repeat their main points back to them – and do so.

By doing this the customer will feel that you have listened to them and that you understand their needs. Your customer will be happy – and happy customers buy products.

4. Don’t complicate things

If the topic you are discussing is complex or technical – don’t be tempted to overpower them with your technical knowledge. And don’t do the opposite by talking down to them. Unless they indicate otherwise, expect them to have some understanding of the topic and tailor your language as if to a student.

So don’t use complicated terms and acronyms and make sure that you explain clearly what you mean.

5. Be honest

If you cannot answer a customer’s question – be upfront about it and either ask a more experienced person, look the answer up or promise to get back to them. There is nothing worse than walking away from a sales person knowing that they could not answer your questions and made no effort to find out the information you needed.

Customers will trust you much more if you are honest and straightforward with them and if you show them respect by finding out the answers they need. This is how you make repeat customers – because they know you go out of your way to help them. They will come back and send their friends as well.

If you want more information on advertising strategies or any how to market a product call Phil Heffernan on 0415 171 998 or email Phil at: phil@heffernanwebdesigns.com.au