Have you ever had a strange feeling when you go to Foxtrot, Eldorado or any other electronics supermarket, and sales assistants swarm from all sides, trying to advise, answer questions, help you choose, help you decide on a model (underline as necessary).

Have you also felt the desire to run away from there, away from the intrusive service, and just order equipment with delivery in some well-known online store?

Don't be scared. You are not a sociopath. It's just that the realities of Ukrainian sales in the mentioned networks (and not only in them) in recent years, with their excessive activity and standardization, really make an unprepared consumer consider them intrusive.

And even our opinion is just an opinion. After all, respected companies are free to work as they want. Moreover, if you sell something and want to have a “not so intrusive” service in your business, everything is in your hands.

The beginning of a conversation with the buyer is the first and very important one that determines the further course of events. This article has some tips how to start a conversation with a customer so as not to appear intrusive.

The perfect conversation starter

When it comes to developing an internal standard for customer greetings, sales leaders go one of two ways:

1. based on your own "like"
2. based on testing different options and statistics

At the same time, the first is closer to unique small businesses, where the ROP is the owner. The second is the lot of seasoned salespeople who put sales figures above aesthetics.

Somehow, for more than 2 weeks, the sales coaches of the Results Factory fought against the wall of misunderstanding of the owner, who wanted “to be like this, and to sound like this greeting, because it expresses our philosophy and uniqueness”, although very specific requests for promotion were voiced sales, and for which the first thing to do was to change too non-selling, aimless phrases in the standards. That is, the situation was - I want an apple, but I do not want an apple.
And don't worry about the lady in question. Everything was sorted out, everyone agreed. And everything ended well.

The best way to start a conversation with a customer is one that both leads to the satisfaction of the seller's goals and remains within the emotionally acceptable range of the buyer.

The very first step is to decide what do you want to get at the output of the beginning of the conversation. It can be:

• certain emotional state of the client
• understanding the message you are conveying
• interest / curiosity
• the willingness of the client to take certain actions
• wonder, memory

Accept that situations are mutually exclusive. You can't sell without offering. You can't be remembered without standing out.

Phrases to start a conversation with a buyer

When you clearly understand the goals of prescribing standards for starting a conversation, you can move on to framing them in the form of specific phrases.

The most important rule is that it should not be like in that joke when the seller’s phrase “help you with something” was answered “help me financially”.

There are 7 rules for composing greeting phrases that sales coaches follow in the Results Factory. One of them is that the standard can only be implemented after checking the matrix in 4 planes - with respect to the manager, seller, potential client, and competitor.

You should also take into account the specifics, whether you understand how to properly start a conversation with a buyer on the phone or on the trading floor.

By the way, the job of a sales consultant is not to give you beautifully structured lists of offers, but to understand your product, structure and sales funnel, and, based on their specifics, offer one or another solution.

Any standard should be not just “good”, but also relevant. This is called the principle of congruence. Take note.

The main thing you need to understand

There are no universal phrases for the beginning of a conversation between a seller and a buyer - there are speech structures that solve certain problems. For instance:

If you need to attract attention, talk:

• Did you call and ask if there are 25 of these laptops in stock?
• Are you also from a new development next door, and asked about a special price for this sofa for your address?
• did you ask to secretly pack the phone until the girl sees, so that it would be a surprise?

When you need to show the client "corporatism" from the very beginning, high standards of work:

• come in, we are glad to see you, if you have any questions, just let me know, and I will provide any assistance in choosing ...
• welcome to branch ***, when you need me please let me know

And so on and so forth. There are special speech structures that identify a need, or inform about promotions, or help, or, or, or even make non-target customers leave as soon as possible. We hope you understand the logic.

Basic rules for starting a conversation with a client

Since the purpose of this article is to review application tools (which you could use immediately after reading), let's also formulate the basic rules that need to be considered when standardizing the beginning of a conversation between a salesperson and a client.

1. No running to the client immediately after he entered - let the person choose from 30 to 90 seconds, this time is considered suitable for most areas and industries, as evidenced by statistics from the fields.
2. Try to do without hackneyed and boring speeches- you are not McDonald's, and "free cash" is likely to be inappropriate and even ridiculous in your business. We wrote about the principle of congruence above.
3. Phrase to start a conversation cannot be out of conjunction with greeting phrases on the one hand, and phrases to identify needs on the other. Consider the standard of behavior of the seller globally, because the practice of our trainers shows that only a well-thought-out algorithm with specific goals gives real profit, which sometimes takes places from a dozen Whatman papers.
4. In order for salespeople to start using your conversation starter techniques, you need to in role-playing exercises, repeat them at least 500 times. It would be a delusion to think that it is enough to tell, show, and everyone will understand and apply everything. Provide quality sales training.
5. Even the most trained and motivated salespeople distort the standards over time. Need constant monitoring in the form of mystery shoppers and reacting to what it shows you.

Total

In one article, instead of presenting a list of phrases on how to properly start a conversation with a buyer on the phone or on the trading floor, we decided to convey the basic rules, principles and concepts. Even showed some examples.

This will help you draw valuable insights and generate useful insights that will form the basis of your highest quality standards for starting a conversation with a buyer.

If you still have questions - ask and we will answer for free, because we want the beginning of a conversation with a buyer in Ukraine to be more humane, and at the same time professional.

If you need help developing sales scripts, or you need to write turnkey scripts, .

From this article you will learn:

• What you need to know about the right communication with the client
• How to turn customer communication into your company's golden fund
• What are the best ways to communicate with customers?
• What not to do when communicating with a client

Today, business relationships between people around the world are built mainly on trade. It 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 commercial transactions depends on how high-quality this cooperation will be, how competent communication with customers will be. Of course, this is not the only criterion for the success of a trading business; first of all, the quality of the product or service itself is important. But many shortcomings can be compensated for with the right communication. A buyer who is satisfied with the service will definitely return to you again, and will not go to competitors. And, on the contrary, if your staff is not attentive enough to visitors or is rude, the buyer will no longer step over the threshold of your store, no matter how high the quality of the goods. This article will touch upon all the nuances of interaction with consumers, give examples of proper communication, consider phrases that should not be used, and also analyze various techniques that are successful from the point of view of psychology. The article will help you build a competent sequence when communicating with a client and attract new customers.

How to establish good communication with clients

Regardless of how the communication with the client is built - via telephone or personal contact - it is the first impression that plays a fundamental role and ultimately affects 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 is the direction of the conversation in the direction you need and the conduct of the interlocutor. It is necessary not only to be able to tell him about the advantages of your product and service and the benefits of working with you, but also to ask the right questions in time to identify the needs and preferences of the client.
Communication should be open and friendly: do not raise your voice, argue, put pressure on the buyer, impose your product on him, be unnecessarily intrusive. 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 arrange for interaction with you.
How to properly clarify customer objections? Find out in the training program

How to behave during a conversation

The correct line of behavior of the staff plays a big role. The probability of a purchase will increase significantly if the cooperation between the manager and the client is successful. It is important to show due and at the same time unobtrusive attention to the buyer, showing him that you are interested in making him satisfied. To do this, you need to be able to arrange the 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 during the conversation you use the right emotions, this will help to 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 clearly and correctly do it. The manager should not have speech impediments. The buyer should see a real professional in front of him, who knows how to talk about the product, answer all questions of interest, with whom it is pleasant to have a conversation. Nobody is interested in an insecure employee who does not know how to connect two words. When communicating with a client, it is also important to get to know him and in the future to address him by name. Such a psychological technique helps to position the interlocutor, giving 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 starts to move away from the main topic.

How to talk about a product or service

Often there are difficulties in 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 present your product or service to the customer in a profitable way? The main task is to interest him in the product and draw attention to your company. People are very fond of promotions and special offers, and this can not be used to attract new customers, as well as retain existing ones. During communication with the consumer, tell about ongoing promotions, explain all the benefits of buying this particular product, interest in a novelty that has recently entered the market. Find out the needs and interests of the client in order to offer the right product for him, meeting all his wishes and requirements.
Once you've decided on the buyer's requirements, focus his attention solely on the details that interest him. There is no need to overload the interlocutor with an excessive amount of information in which he will only get confused. It will be sufficient during communication to correctly place accents and describe the product precisely according to the parameters that are of interest to the client. The final stage is to work out all the objections of a potential buyer, thereby dispelling his doubts, and encourage him to make a purchase. Even in the event that the consumer, after communicating with you, refused to purchase a product or pay for a service, you need to maintain goodwill and courtesy towards him. Then there is a very high probability that the visitor will come to you in the future, remembering your professionalism and desire to help with the choice. Thus, following the correct sequence of stages when communicating with a client is very important if you want to grow your business.

Simple rules of communication with the client

There are many examples of successful sales when a person just went into a store just for the sake of interest, and after talking with an employee of the trading floor, he left with a purchase. This indicates the professionalism and high level of training of the seller. Many consumers need to be encouraged to make a purchase. To do this, 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 orientation. The most important thing when communicating with a client is to convince him that you are pursuing his interests, and not yours, and really want to help him. This will instill confidence in the buyer and help win him over. Openness and goodwill are one of the main keys to success. You need to be especially careful in those moments when the visitor himself 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 on the quality of service.

There are several ways to show your interest:

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

Try to communicate with the buyer in the most understandable language for him. No need to delve into professional terminology that a person does not understand. If we are talking about, for example, a blender, it is not necessary to say that its power is 1500 watts. This information may be completely useless to the client. It would be much better if you list the main products that you can grind with it. So you will talk about the technical characteristics of the product, but they will be clear not only to you, but also to the buyer.

1. Don't stoop to the level of the client. At first glance, this is rather strange advice, because the first rule says that you need to speak with the buyer in his language. This is undeniable. This rule was 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 are able to communicate adequately, allowing themselves to use profanity and rudeness. It is in these cases that one cannot become 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 client is always right. It has long been a beaten and memorized rule by all sales managers. But it is not entirely correct. Every salesperson understands that the customer is actually right in very rare cases. Most potential buyers do not know what they really want and understand your store's products much worse than you. It is you who is 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 in no case should the buyer know this. He must believe that only he is 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 get 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, a large project, etc.), a very important rule of communication with the company's customers 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 be worried. 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 fix everything than if checks and adjustments were made in intermediate stages.

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

The main generally accepted standards of communication with the client

Every self-respecting organization necessarily develops internal regulations and standards for communication with the company's customers. 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 main standards, on the basis of which you can develop your own regulations.
1. Emotional attitude and openness to the client. Employees of the trading floor or sales office should look so that the visitor wants to contact them. Here we are not talking about the external data of the staff, which, by the way, is also important, but about the image of a friendly manager who is ready to advise and help. Salespeople, of course, are people too and have the right to be in a bad mood, but this should in no way affect communication with customers. A 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 does not have to 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 he will be served. Often this is important, because, perhaps, at this time he will be able to solve some of his other affairs. It is also necessary to entertain the guest with something if he is waiting for his turn in the hall: it can be magazines, catalogs, tea, coffee. The most important thing is that a situation does not arise: the visitor came in, and 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 the interlocutor and impress him, you need to not only 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 own advantages. It is unlikely that you will inspire confidence if you discuss competitors. Also, do not engage in excessive self-promotion: it will look like boasting and exaggerating existing virtues.
It is better to avoid long monologues, lengthy descriptions and explanations. It is worth remembering the main characteristics and advantages of a particular product and conveying the very 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, 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 a dialogue, ask questions, and involve him in the conversation.
4. Be able to hear and listen. These concepts, similar to each other, are somewhat different, because listening and hearing are different things, and a true professional in trading and in communicating with clients should know these differences. Listening is the ability to demonstrate to the interlocutor that you are listening. There is a special technique of active listening that everyone can master: you need to make eye contact, nod, do 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. It is often very difficult to understand the buyer during communication with him. 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, find out as many details and details as possible. Sometimes it’s enough just to put yourself in the place of your interlocutor and look at the question through his eyes. When you master the ability to hear people, you can not only quickly help the buyer solve his problem, but you can easily manipulate him, which is useful for the seller.
5. Address the client by name. How to win over an interlocutor with just one word? Say his name. A banal truth that has huge success in communicating with a client. When you address a person by name, a more comfortable, inviting and trusting atmosphere is created for him, and the importance of this particular buyer for you is also emphasized.
6. Don't lie. Your reputation will be completely undermined if you are caught lying. Never exaggerate the merits of the product and do not say what is not really there. Even a small lie can cause irreparable harm and lead to a loss of trust on the part of the client.
7. Always do a little more than is required. Very simple, but at the same time effective technique. Exceeding consumer expectations is easy enough. You need to give 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 get in return. He will be more willing and with great interest to talk with you about further cooperation if you charm him with your special attitude.

Sequential stages of communication with the client

Stage 1. "Making contact" or "Establishing contact"

Any sale or transaction is impossible without this stage.
Purpose: to attract the attention of a potential buyer to yourself and arrange for further communication.
Before moving on to identifying the needs of the client, it is recommended to resort to communicating with him on abstract topics. There are a number of methods for establishing contact with the visitor. You can offer tea, coffee, make a couple of compliments, etc.
It is very easy to understand whether it was possible to establish contact with the buyer by his actions. If he actively enters into communication, positively responds to the words and actions of the seller, behaves at ease and relaxed, we can conclude that the connection has been established. If the client is tense, tense, avoids communication, answers questions dryly and briefly, looks away - this indicates that contact could not be established. In this case, the stage of making contact should be given more attention, using various techniques.

Stage 2. Identification of needs

Purpose: to identify the preferences and wishes of the client.
The more accurately the manager can identify the preferences of the buyer, the more favorable he will be able to present the product, which as a result will lead to a purchase.
To find out the needs of the client, the manager must use the correct sequence when communicating with him, be able to ask the right questions, listen and understand the interlocutor.

Stage 3. Presentation

Purpose: to offer exactly what the buyer needs, based on his needs, identified in 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 not to confuse the concepts of "benefit" and "advantage" here.
Advantage- this is the benefit of this particular product in comparison with analogues. Anyone who purchases this product will benefit from this.
Benefit- this is such a feature or characteristic of the product that is able to satisfy the specific need of this particular buyer.
Thus, knowing all the needs identified during communication with the visitor, it remains only to correctly present exactly the product, which, according to its characteristics, corresponds to the wishes of the client. It turns out that any product parameters can become beneficial for a particular 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 a 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 objections at all.
Often objections are related to the fact that:

• not all customer needs have been identified;
• weak contact was initially established, and not enough time was devoted to communication with the client;
• the presentation was not informative and could not give a full description of the product, and thus answer all the questions of the buyer.

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 customer interaction.
It will not always be possible to completely avoid objections, so you need to learn how to respond to them correctly and take appropriate measures.
Clearly follow the scheme of work with objections:

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

Stage 5. Completion of the transaction

Purpose: to bring the buyer to the purchase and confirm the correctness of his decision.
At the stage of completion of the transaction, 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 words of the manager;
• directly says that he is ready to purchase goods or conclude a contract for the provision of services;
• Interested in details.

Deal completion methods:

• compliment method (“You made the 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 on Friday?”).

The turnover of the company directly depends on the professionalism of the customer service manager. The more skills and techniques he has, the more sales he can eventually 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 a client: effective methods of working with a difficult consumer

It is thanks to difficult customers that 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 customers is to neutralize the pressure they exert, and not ignore them, and at the same time be able to convert them into the status of loyal customers.

• Rudeness, aggressiveness of the client.

When communicating with a client, you should never imitate him if he behaves unworthily. In response to rudeness, abuse, disrespectful statements and gestures, he should see only your friendliness and calmness. You can not let the interlocutor piss you off.
Rudeness is used when there are no other ways to prove one's case or defend one's interests. When a person has tried all the 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 communicating with these buyers, it is important to give them the opportunity to let off steam and show that you are ready to solve the problem. You need to listen to the client without interrupting him. It will be right to discard all emotions and, not paying attention to the presentation of information, get to the heart of the matter. To do this, you need to show the 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 solve the problem.
In the case when a scandal occurs in front of other visitors, try to take the client away as soon as possible in order to continue communication in private or as far as possible from outsiders.

• Softness, shyness.

There are types of people who themselves will not make contact, because they are shy, do not want to be distracted, or are very shy by nature. When communicating with a manager with such clients, he needs to show as much gentleness as possible: no pressure, more smiles, encouraging remarks, pushing for 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 indecisiveness.

Do not confuse indecisive people with soft ones. Indecisive customers are mainly those who are afraid of making a mistake, and therefore cannot decide on a choice or decide whether they need a purchase in principle. Such buyers will constantly question the decision already made, clarify the details, seek advice again and again. It is difficult for them to stop their choice on 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 one. When communicating with such clients, you need to deliberately narrow the circle of choices. You shouldn't offer them six options at once, it's enough to focus their attention on two, and only in the case when they refuse these options, offer two others. This way you will help buyers make the right choice, and the purchase will not be delayed for several days.
Such clients also cannot be pressured and rushed. In no case do not show that you are tired of their indecision, but on the contrary, try to encourage and support their desire to make the right choice. During communication with the buyer, you need to instill confidence in him, dispelling his every doubt.
To push an indecisive person to make a purchase, it is often not enough just to present the product correctly. You need to use additional tools. In this case, you need to point out the limited quantity of this product, the upcoming price increase, or something else that will let the buyer understand that you should not delay the purchase, but you need to hurry up with the decision.
More intermediate fixes - more chances to agree on the whole. So that the client does not change his mind in the future, say that work on the agreed issues is already underway. Sometimes this is done on purpose so that the buyer will no longer return to this. It’s better for him to get scared and refuse altogether than to deal with his doubts endlessly, wasting time and not being sure that the deal will take place.

• Familiarity.

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

• Talkativeness.

As in life, at work you can often encounter a chatty client. It is quite difficult to have 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 correctly insert your remarks into long monologues during pauses, without interrupting the interlocutor.
Ask leading questions that bring the buyer back to the topic of conversation, draw his attention to the product. Do not try to say more than the interlocutor, strive to say the most important thing. Your task is not to talk to the client, but to convey the essence to him.

• Silence of the client.

You can contrast a talker with a silent visitor. The difficulty in communicating with such clients lies in the fact that sometimes it is not easy to understand the reaction of a person to your words. Here it is important not to go into a long monologue, but to involve the interlocutor in a dialogue, asking his opinion and encouraging him to communicate. It is best to give information in portions, constantly monitoring the reaction of the buyer.
It is necessary to ask as many questions as possible, revealing the needs of a person, and in those rare moments when he speaks, listen carefully to him. The Echo method will work great here. Its essence is to repeat the last words of the interlocutor.

• Demonstration of competence.

This buyer is well versed in your product and is familiar with its properties and characteristics. He will hasten to demonstrate his knowledge during communication, considering this a dignity and superiority. You need to be tactful and not try to compete with him, proving that you are more aware. Give him the opportunity to show off his knowledge. Try to keep a casual conversation, ask questions and be an attentive listener.
If the buyer expresses his personal opinion about a particular product, specify what exactly it is based on. To do this, use the following questions: “Why did you decide so?”, “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 the interlocutor.
If during communication with the client you notice that he is mistaken, you do not need to directly point out the error and try to correct him immediately, as this can become a cause of 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 place of the buyer and in no case allow him to be treated in such a way that you would not like to receive in your address;
• in case of an ethical violation, immediately correct it as soon as it has been identified;
• compliance with the tolerance of the company's 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 restrict the freedom of others;
• ethical service behavior of an employee, which leads to the development of the organization from a moral point of view;
• when communicating with a client, pressure on him or the manifestation of his superiority in the behavior of the manager is not allowed;
• in all possible ways to find a compromise and avoid conflict;
• the employee not only himself must behave correctly from the point of view of ethics, but also encourage the client to do so;
• avoid criticism of the interlocutor.

When interacting with clients, do not:

• throw mud at competitors. You should not discuss competitors and speak badly about them, even if this is true. If the client himself asks your opinion about a particular company, the review about it should be as neutral as possible, and it would be most correct to refer to your ignorance of how things are with competitors. The client's opinion about third-party organizations 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 that they speak a foreign language. It will be difficult for the visitor to understand you and correctly navigate in your terms. Therefore, communication with customers must be conducted in a language they understand. Sometimes it is even better to show visually what you are trying to convey to the interlocutor;
• let your emotions rule you. No matter how difficult the interlocutor is, no matter how he tries to piss you off, your main rule is to be calm. All of us, of course, are living people and have the right to emotions, but not a client manager. In response to any of their actions, the consumer should see only your goodwill and no irritability or aggression.

What should be the communication with the client on the phone

When communicating with a client on the phone, intonation plays the most important role. The impression of the conversation is formed in the first 20 seconds of communication. During the same time, the person decides whether he wants to continue the dialogue with you. Therefore, you need to monitor 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 a conversation:

The phone call itself:

There are many techniques for communicating with customers over the phone. One of them is based on identifying the interlocutor's main sense organ for the perception of information. The fact is that for the knowledge of the world around us we all use hearing, sight, touch, kinesthetics, smell. But each person has a leading way of perceiving the world, by identifying which one 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: "This looks attractive", "Such a description seems vague to me", "I see it this way ...", "Let's try to shed light on this problem";
• auditory:“I heard you”, “Everything is not happening in time”, “It seems to be good”, “I just can’t tune in to what you are saying”;
• kinesthetic (motor, motor):“Try to weigh everything well”, “I feel that I can do it”, “He gives off warmth”, “This is a very slippery situation”;
• olfactory:“It would be great to try it well”, “I just smelled like a solution.”

For many people, the priority way of obtaining information is visual, and this is easy to understand by the use of verbs that define visualization: “see”, “imagine”, “seem”, “observe”, “see”, “decorate”, “looks”, etc. e. Such people perceive what they see better than what they hear. They prefer to watch rather than listen to descriptions, even the most detailed ones. During communication, clients will write down important points: they are very fond of visual examples, draw up an action plan, take notes.
Auditory orientation is inherent in a much smaller number of people. When communicating with such consumers, you will hear verbs related to hearing: “heard”, “sounds”, “pronounced”, “cracks”, “squeaks”, etc. These interlocutors have a good auditory memory and are able to remember most of the conversation without any notes and notes on paper. Such people like to communicate, but are also easily distracted by extraneous sounds.
A very small group of people are guided by the kinesthetic style of communication. They often use verbs when speaking: “I build”, “I create”, “I use”, etc. Such people need to constantly be 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 customers

It is necessary to join the circle of your target audience and make contact with it. To do this, they use various thematic blogs, pages to which a person must subscribe, all kinds of mailing lists and subscriptions. Create a team of like-minded people and actively communicate with their leaders.
Use your data, prepare for meetings together with your team:

• select a few of the most important questions at the moment (three to five);
• check out the profiles of your interlocutor in social networks;
• make a psychological portrait of a 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 a client.

Communication via e-mail:

• Seamless grip. If there is a need to replace the manager leading a specific client (vacation, sick leave, load sharing), this replacement should occur imperceptibly to the consumer. To do this, the new manager must familiarize himself with all the nuances of the transaction. In this he is obliged to help the previous employee, who is aware of all the cases. He must transfer all related materials on this buyer and tell as much as possible about the details of the work done and future work with him.
• Can't change email subject. During correspondence, the subject of the letter should remain the same as it was originally. Then the client and you will have the opportunity to filter this particular correspondence from among other letters. If you change the subject even a little, the letter will not get into the filter and will be lost. If some correspondence has come to a logical conclusion, and it becomes necessary to continue communication with the consumer on other issues, the conversation is assigned a new topic.
• Talking theme. 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 participate in the correspondence, it is necessary to use the "Reply to all" function in response to letters so that all participants in the conversation are involved in it and are aware of what is happening.
• Summaryandcall to action. At the end of each of your letters, summarize and remind you what result you want to achieve. This is how you program the client's actions to achieve your goals.
• Resume after skype chat. After the end of communication with the client via Skype, it would be right to send him a letter, which will describe the essence of the conversation and sum up the results. Thus, you will be sure that no one will forget what was said.
• The last word. Always try to complete the communication with you. To do this, it is enough to use the phrases at the end of communication: “Thank you for your cooperation!”, “Thank you for your time!”, “Have a nice 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."
• Excluded phrases:“How can I be useful”, “I’m listening”, “You got it”, “(company name) is listening”, “Hello”, “At the device”.

2. Outgoing call to a new client.

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

3. Outgoing call to the current client.

• Excluded phrases:“Did you recognize me?”, “Can I disturb you?”, “You are calling”, “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 speak with (full name)?”. If necessary, you can clarify what you are talking about.
• “Good afternoon / morning / evening, my name is (name), I am (position / department) company (name). Are you comfortable talking now?
• In case of a positive answer:"Thank you! We have already cooperated with you (what kind of cooperation, exactly), we would like to continue cooperation. Tell me, please, are you interested in (clarification)?
• Excluded phrases: “Calling you”, “Worrying you”.
• If the answer is negative:“When can I call you back so that it’s convenient for you (specify time and date)?”.

5. The client came to the office.

• Unknown client, greeting:"Good afternoon / morning / evening, (come in / sit down)", "I'm listening to you."
• Excluded phrases:“Whom are you?”, “Man!”, “Woman!”, “Who do you want?”; Phrases not recommended:“Is there anything to help you?”, “Are you looking for something / someone?”.
• Familiar:“Good afternoon / morning / evening, (come in / sit down)”, “Good to see you.”

6. Meeting at the client's office.

• Unknown 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 make a compliment).

7. End the conversation.

• By phone or in person:“It was a pleasure to talk with you! Good luck, have a great day/week/weekend!” etc.

A well-constructed conversation during a phone call is the key to a good result. Perhaps a potential client will not agree to buy goods immediately and in your company, but they will remember the friendly attitude and professionalism of a specialist. Therefore, in order to leave the most favorable impression on the client, it is necessary to adhere to simple, at first glance, rules. Why exactly at first glance - now we will try to explain.

Answering an incoming call

Do not force the caller to listen to the beeps in the receiver, answer the maximum after the third. This is the best option. Answering after the first call is also not recommended: the interlocutor may have an erroneous opinion that you do not have clients, and you just do what you are sitting by the phone waiting for a miracle.

Voice intonation

A lot depends on the tone in which you communicate with the interlocutor. A person who does not have knowledge or experience in the field of activity of your company can bombard you with a huge number of elementary, in your opinion, questions. In this case, many employees have annoyed notes in their voices. Contrary to the general opinion that telephone communication can hide this, the interlocutor easily recognizes such intonation, and the desire to communicate with you further, as well as to cooperate with your organization, disappears altogether. Be patient, that's why you are a professional, to answer potential customers for all their questions.

Speakerphone and Call Hold

If you need to clarify a question, ask the interlocutor to wait and turn off the microphone. In each program (if the call is made through a computer) and on each telephone set there is such a function. The client does not need to listen to what you have going on. Firstly, information constituting a commercial secret can reach him, and secondly, personal communication between employees who may not be shy in expressions should not be heard by him either. Speakerphone will also not improve the quality of your conversation. Annoying extraneous noises and poor hearing will not have a positive effect on the conversation.

Predicting what the interlocutor might say

It's good if there is a conversation script in front of your eyes. It is even better if, in addition to the obligatory remarks of a company employee, it contains possible answers from a potential client to them. Having worked out possible objections several times, later the correct answers will come at an intuitive level, and, having felt doubt in the voice of the interlocutor, you will already know how to dispel it.

Professionalism

Here we are talking about your competence as a specialist. You should have a reasoned and precise answer ready for any question of the client.

open-minded attitude

If your potential client is a legal entity, it is unlikely that you will immediately get to the management on the first call. Most likely, either the secretary or another ordinary employee will answer you. But it is he who will form the first impression of you and pass on all the relevant information to the person responsible for making decisions. And on how exactly he will present it, in the future it will depend on whether you will have a new client or not.

Communication ethics

In addition to the basic rules for communicating with a potential client, there is such a thing as ethics. It includes no less simple recommendations, as in the previous case.

Greetings

If you have the opportunity to call a person by name, by all means use it. The client appreciates individual treatment, this gives him the appearance that he stands out from the general flow of potential buyers. Wishing a person a good time of the day (depending on when exactly you are calling) also encourages mutual communication.

Representation

The caller needs to know if he got there. As well as when making an outgoing call, you must immediately indicate where exactly you are calling from. It would be optimal to name the organization and introduce yourself by name, so that the interlocutor's imagination personalizes you, and does not paint him a picture of an incubator.

Politeness

It will be right if you inquire at the beginning of the conversation whether it is convenient for your interlocutor to speak. If you do not, be prepared for the fact that in the middle of your fiery speech, he may interrupt you and say that he is busy. It's good if you manage to call him again after some time, but even in this case, the whole script will have to be repeated again.

Parting

Be sure to check before you hang up if the interlocutor has any questions. If everything is clear to him, wish "all the best" or "good day" and boldly end the conversation.

Stages of communication with the client

The stages of communication with the client by phone are standard. Much here depends on the specifics of the service or product offered:

• Greeting and location of the client to yourself. The more correctly you start the conversation, the more chances you will have to continue it.
• Specification of the purpose of the call. It does not matter if it is an outgoing call or an incoming one, it is necessary to find out or identify the main issue around which communication will be built.
• Presentation of a product or service. Focus the interlocutor's attention on the merits and unique features of your offer.
• Work with objections. A stage that is almost never avoided. For the correct processing of objections, entire trainings are compiled and conducted and scripts are compiled, so it’s good if you have a cheat sheet at hand.
• Make a deal. This stage is the goal of most outgoing calls. Bringing to it is the best result of your communication with the client.
• Parting. Intonation during parting also plays a significant role. In case of success, you do not need to show excessive cheerfulness, so you will let the client know that this is all that was expected of him. His vivid imagination will instantly draw how you are sitting near the phone and cheerfully rubbing your hands. End the conversation in the same tone as you started it.

Features of psychology

Before trying to sell a product or offer a service to a customer over the phone, put yourself in their shoes. To what extent will your offer be interesting to him? What benefit will he get if he agrees to it? What doubts can the client have during the conversation?

In medium and large organizations, the practice of conducting psychological trainings is widespread. This helps to remove the barrier that many people have when making an outgoing call. Cold calling is a very thankless job. Most of them end with a refusal, and the employee forms the opinion that this type of activity does not suit him. Therefore, for the most part, psychological trainings are aimed at the development of employees. If the operator feels comfortable when making a call, the conversation will go easier and in an atmosphere of more ease than if he just reads the script from the sheet, afraid to insert an extra word.

Be that as it may, putting yourself in the place of the client means understanding his situation. In this case, it will be easier to explain to a potential buyer why your offer is the most beneficial for him. Ordinary persuasion will not bring results; arguments and the ability to confirm them are needed. Only in this way you can dispel the interlocutor's doubts about the obligation of a future acquisition.

What skills do you need to communicate

First of all, in order to be able to communicate with a client on the phone, communication skills are very important. Following them, an equally important point is stress resistance. Not always on the other end of the wire is an intelligent person who can politely refuse your offer. Sometimes the interlocutor may rudely say that he does not need your services or goods. You need to be ready for this from the very beginning and in no case take this manner of communication personally.

The ability to quickly assess the situation also plays an important role in the process of telephone communication with the client. If interest slipped into the interlocutor’s intonation, in addition (or instead) you can offer him to purchase related products. Sometimes it is the presence of an additional offer that plays a key role in making a positive decision.

I really liked these rules from the site freelance.ru. Simply intelligible and, most importantly, everything that is called "to the cashier."

A must read for anyone who works with clients! Especially this topic began to excite me after a negative experience of communicating with copywriters. I will immediately send them a link to these simple ten rules.

If we leave aside the issues of professionalism and decency (assume that we are all professionals and have never “thrown anyone”), then an important problem for a freelancer is to build communication with the customer. It holds the key to the successful start and completion of a specific project, as well as the formation of long-term or regular cooperation.

For 5 years of work on the Internet as a freelancer, project manager and direct customer, I have accumulated a decent "baggage". This is the kind of luggage:

Regular customers,

Clients with whom communication did not work out,

Clients in front of whom I am embarrassed and even ashamed,

Freelancers with whom I have worked and continue to work with pleasure,

Freelancers I will never use again.

Analyzing this baggage, we can safely say that a lot of mistakes were made. I made mistakes, those with whom I had to work made them, you make them too. I tried to formulate the conclusions from all this in the form of 10 rules for communicating with the customer.

1. No friendship and familiarity with the customer.

Communication should be as formal as possible. The address adopted in Russia to a stranger “on you” should not disappear, even if your opponent switched to “on you”.

You don’t need to suddenly tell how you spent yesterday, that you had a fight with your wife, that crows were cawing outside the window, and that you hadn’t had coffee yet. Your customer is not interested in this and, believe me, he does not expect such frankness from you.

If you receive such information, smile politely, send emoticons, but do not join the discussion, stay below the official line.

What threatens the opposite?

No matter how friendly relations with the customer do not allow to assess the situation soberly. Due to the feeling of rapprochement, you will not be able to say the right “Stop!” or not!".

2. Do not tell the customer the process of work, do not send intermediate stages and source codes, do not pour out terms unnecessarily.

It is extremely rare that a client needs to know the sequence of your actions when creating a collage or setting up a database. If he needs it, he will tell you about it.

And it is unlikely that the customer wants to participate in the development process. He came to you for the result, and not to spend his time reviewing and commenting on the intermediate stages of the project. Respect his time.

The same goes for specific terminology. It is logical that you know the names of all your tools, just as logical that it is only interesting to you.

What threatens the opposite?

It seems to you that in this way you demonstrate your skill, openness and desire to cooperate. In fact, you are stealing someone else's time and nerves. It is unlikely that the client will say that you have tired him. He just won't come to you anymore.

In addition, the coolest plumber is the one who fixes pipes quickly and silently. And does not describe his actions, offering to hold the adjustable wrench while he goes for tow.

3. Do not let the customer choose if he does not ask.

You always need to remember that you are a professional, able to decide for yourself which of your works is the best. No need to show 20 variations of the same logo when only 3 are expected of you.

What threatens the opposite?

It is also difficult for the client to choose, and he will ask you to choose someone else, for example, a wife or a friend ...

The client can ask for more options, because you have already given him more than he asked for, so you can do more.

The client can choose the worst option, and you will be ashamed of this work.

4. Don't disappear.

You can not answer the letter for a maximum of a day. In instant messengers, silence is allowed for several hours. The call must be answered immediately. If not, be sure to call back as soon as possible.

The rule is simple, but, due to its simplicity, it is very easy to neglect it.

What threatens the opposite?

You risk losing trust, order and customer. And also make a big scandal if the client starts looking for you, creating posts like: “Freelancer is missing, help me find you. The color is white with a black spot on the ear, responds to ... ".

5. Don't explain yourself unnecessarily.

It so happened that you disappeared, forgot to do something, send, write, did something wrong or wrong ... It happens to everyone. But, if the customer has no complaints and questions, do not explain. Add, send, redo, but do not explain. Explanations are appropriate when they are expected.

What threatens the opposite?

Inappropriate excuses characterize you as a weak, insecure person.

And (see point 1) it may just be unnecessary information.

6. Validity and accountability.

All your actions must be clearly and reasonably justified. Why is the price like this? Why are you using clipart? Why didn't you do as indicated in the TOR?

If the project is not a two-day project, it is important to establish accountability. For example, once a week send the customer a document that describes the work and their volume, as well as the price for them. Or invite him to the tracker, where he can observe the dynamics of the work being done.

Reporting does not replace validity.

What threatens the opposite?

The result of ignorance of the customer is distrust, claims, disputes, damaged relationships, negative feedback.

7. Don't become a go-between.

Only start selling other people's services if you are a manager by nature or you have a lot of experience in this (for example, from a previous office life), or you have a reliable front (for example, your partners or firm).

What threatens the opposite?

The desire to make money quickly and easily in this way often turns into a headache, insomnia, out-of-pocket payments and broken relationships with all participants in the case. Any of the parties (both the customer and the contractor) can disappear, fail, all sorts of force majeure can happen to them ... And at the same time, you need to explain yourself to the other side, save face, reputation and your money.

8. Negotiations to the last.

Whatever the situation, try to negotiate. It doesn't matter if you're at fault or the client is being weird, you need to keep your tone calm and keep the conversation constructive. As practice shows, you can always find a way out of any situation. At the same time, it is far from always necessary to compromise (consider it as an extreme measure), since most unpleasant situations are the result of misunderstanding, misunderstanding. You just need to figure out which of you did not listen, misunderstood or interpreted in your own way.

What threatens the opposite?

Without trying to figure it out, you run the risk of losing a possible regular client, partner, ruining relationships and getting a negative review for inadequacy. And, what is the saddest thing, there is a great chance to repeat your mistakes in the future.

If your prices jump and change, then you do not know the value of your work. Most likely, you can be "bent". If you state one thing in your profile, but in reality something else happens, this causes a lot of doubts, as well as temptations.

Ambiguity always speaks of unprofessionalism and slack, which will either scare the client away or give him the opportunity to manipulate you.

I hope my experience will be useful to you.

Get armed! Let this be your code, from which not a single step!

PS: When I reread these rules, I immediately remember one of my first works to promote an office dealing with plastic windows. I probably violated all these 10 rules when communicating with the customer, as a result, I also had a terrible fight with him. If it was in real life, it could come to assault. Now I look at myself then and wonder why I wasted my nerves, time, everything could have been sorted out elementarily.

The success of any business is inextricably linked with the personnel of the enterprise. It would be more accurate to say that each employee of the company must master such an art as the psychology of communicating with customers. In the article, we will consider the basic principles of how staff should build communication with customers, how to motivate a person to make a purchase, and other subtleties.

It should be immediately indicated that the employee’s sociability does not mean at all that he owns. The conversation should be built in such a way that the consumer will certainly make a purchase, and most importantly, return to the company again. To do this, organizations periodically conduct trainings on the psychology of communication with the buyer.

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. It depends on him the further course of the conversation. There are a number of rules used to build a successful dialogue. One of the most important - customer management. You should 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.
Of great importance Feedback. Your speech should not look like a boring monologue, you need to involve the client in the conversation, while controlling the course of the conversation. A potential buyer will feel comfortable if you do not argue with him and put pressure on him, trying to quickly sell the product. The presentation must be done beautifully, describing in detail all the advantages that the client will receive by purchasing the goods from you. Make business compliments to the client, by doing this you will translate the conversation into a positive direction. And most importantly, remember that openness and goodwill -.

How to behave during a conversation?

The correct behavior of a company employee is very important. A customer is much more willing to make a purchase if the conversation is relaxed. It is important to smile at the interlocutor, look into his eyes, show interest. The main thing is to sincerely try to help the consumer solve his problem.
In the process of communication, you can not speak monotonously and without emotion. A boring monologue will be interrupted by the client in mid-sentence. Most likely, such a buyer will leave the company and make an acquisition where he can be interested. Don't speak too fast or too slow. Try to find optimal speech rate. Employees of the enterprise should develop diction. The clarity of speech is important for understanding what you want to convey to the interlocutor. Much more trust is caused by specialists who are fluent in professional terminology and have a large vocabulary. The psychology of communication with customers is based on the importance of questions in a conversation, the correct use of the name of the consumer. 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 deal. Ask open-ended questions that will encourage the person to answer as broadly as possible.

What is the right way to talk about a product or service?

There are situations when an employee is just starting to tell the client about the proposed product or service, and he is already getting bored. How to correctly present the product and build a dialogue in order to turn an incredulous person into a permanent, loyal customer? The first task facing the seller is to attract attention and interest the client. Inform him about the arrival of a new model, promotions and discounts, and then focus on the positive characteristics and benefits of the proposed product. If a person wants to buy a laptop, then you need to find out what is a priority for him and how much he expects to spend on a purchase.
Having identified the needs of the client, focus only on those points that interest him. You should not tire him with a large amount of uninteresting information, if you, of course, want to make a deal. Last step - encourage potential buyers to take 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 has a good impression of the quality of service, he will definitely contact the company next time, and thus you will achieve your goal in the long term. Therefore, it is very important not only to improve interpersonal relationships, but also for business development.