You may recall my November blog post entitled, “Build Rapport and Put Your Client at Ease,” in which I share thoughts on effectively engaging customers. Following that piece, Becky Wilson, a loyal CLC Community member and very talented PR and marketing expert, submitted this comment and question:
“Alana, I find it very challenging today to establish rapport with prospects and clients. They want to communicate via email with short messages. They prefer not to speak via the telephone. And, I can tell by their responses, he or she has not read the complete email message I have sent to them. Do you have insights on how to overcome this challenge?”
First, Becky, thank you for the question. Second, you’re not alone!
In today’s fast-paced, techno-centric business environment, communication is becoming more and more truncated, people are busier than ever and we all fail to pause to really hear what others have to say. My initial reaction is two-fold:
- First, meet your customers and prospects where THEY are. That means communicating with them the way they want to be communicated with, seeing them when and where they want to be seen, discussing topics they want to cover.
- Remember your goal: Serve the client and address his/her need rather than focus on selling your product/service.
To elaborate, I turned to my dear friend, Paul Russell, sales expert, entrepreneur and the author of STUN! Selling (which, in the spirit of full disclosure, I was the proud editor of…) for an answer. He provided a recommendation complete with a process for addressing the question of how to overcome objections and get a proper response from clients and prospects. Namely, he suggests his easy QuickSell™ approach:
- To Get
- You Should
- Which Would
- I Could
In the case of an email, QuickSell™ would be tightly edited and look something like this:
“To get your email read, you should use the QuickSell™ four step process which would tighten your message to a few words. I could show you how if you’ll give me a call…”
As a text message, it would need to be buttoned up even more to fit within the context of 140 characters:
“To get a response, you should use the QuickSell™ process which would shorten your message. I could show you how. Call me!” [only 122 characters… with spaces!]
As “STUN” = “Satisfy Their Unmet Need,” Paul always recommends – above all else – that you focus on the customer need. The QuickSell™ does just that:
- “To Get” is a restatement of their need;
- “You Should” is what action you want them to take;
- “Which Would” is how their need gets satisfied when they do it; and
- “I Could” is your call for them to reply.
If you want to learn more, take a look at Paul’s book in which there is an entire chapter dedicated to QuickSell™ (Tool #3). Additionally, check out Paul’s free video about QuickSell™ available on his website: STUNselling.com/QuickSell.
Do you have experience addressing the challenge that Becky posed? Please take a moment to share your thoughts with the CLC Community at CoffeeLunchCoffee.com.