Spend 60 seconds looking around
You've probably heard people say that you should always listen first and then speak. That's great advice, but did you know that you should also be just as observant of visual cues before you open your mouth?
All it takes is 60 seconds or less to get an idea of how an office is run and to start thinking of ways to better communicate with your customer.
I bet you already look around new offices when you walk into them, but I want to challenge yourself to start looking for more clues. What is the client interested in? How do they do their job? How can you use this information to communicate with them in a more effective manner.
Employees and bookshelves
Here's what you do. Look around the office when you get there. Are people laughing and having a good time or do they all have their heads down, working away? That will tell you how relaxed the work atmosphere is.
Look for common ground and approach the situation from there. Check out the managers book shelf…from the books you see, you can tell a lot about how they approach management and communication.
Which books are dog-eared, and full of sticky notes?
Which books have never been opened?
Are there any family photos?
Gadgets? (iPod, BlackBerry)
Sports Equipment?
Connecting with your customer
Find something you think your customer is proud of and use that information to make the initial connection.
Chances are good that you'll be tuned out unless you can find something in common. Perhaps you went to the same university. Maybe you've travelled to some of the same places. You might both speak Spanish. The key is to find something and go with it.
If the customer wants to talk, you've just made a friend. If they don't want to talk, they'll probably still think you're a smart person, because you're like them.
People like people who are like them
New people you meet will have made a judgement about you in less than 5 seconds. You have a limited amount of time to make your impression. Use it wisely.
Everyone likes people who are like them. Find the common link with your customer and you'll have started your meeting off right.
