• The first step in increasing your communication and trust with someone is to listen.

• Instead of focusing on your response to what they’re saying, invest in their words alone.

• Maintain eye contact if you are face to face, or try closing your eyes to eliminate distraction while on a call.

• Whether they seem to be interested in a relationship, product, contract, or nothing at all, listening will allow you to evaluate their potential position in your network. 

• Focus on what they are saying not how.  If you are distracted, mentally tabulating the amount of times someone says “like” or clears their throat, try visualizing yourself absorbing only the content of their words.

• Be aware of connection points.  The secret to being a chameleon and having positive relationships with everyone is to find the likeness all humans have with each other.  Do you share a job experience, a pet, children, life circumstances? Channel your inner “namaste” ability to find a way to bond in a meaningful way.

What value am I adding?

1.       Ask open ended questions?  GrowData prides ourselves on helping our clients grow their businesses through highly targeted, accurate data and marketing.  To add value to our interaction, we ask questions that give us insight:

·    On who our customer is?  You often hear our team say, “Tell me about your business.”  This one sentence is an open door for our leads and clients to divulge crucial information about who they are. 

·     What they are looking for?  Approaching a conversation with intrigue and a bit of mystery allows your customer to tell you what they want.  After hearing the customers needs, we are able to offer a more tailored, strategic product or experience.   

·     What they have tried?  “Tell me about what your marketing experience has been and what has or hasn’t worked for you.”  By again listening intently, we can offer authentic opinions on a go forward strategy.  This allows us to build a genuine relationship that stands out from cookie cutter recommendations and generic data lists. 

·     What is their timeline?  By knowing the timeline of our customers, we can properly assess a position in our sales funnel and manage expectations. 

2.       Be easy to work with.  Humans do not gravitate to pushy sales people for a reason.  Solid relationships are built on a foundation of people doing what they say they are going to do and being who they say they are.  Even the online count request system we offer builds relationships when we state we offer a superior product and the client’s purchase results in excellent conversion.