HOW TO WIN YOUR CUSTOMER’S HEART

How customers feel about the people that serve or sell them is a key factor in winning them. In  any business, the people who sell or deal directly with the customers can make or break the business. Infact the more service oriented the business is, the more crucial it becomes to have front-line people who know how to sell themselves.

Selling yourself to a customer( or anyone else) is an art that must be tailored to your own personality, the customer, and the situation. The Strategy to employ in doing this is Help them to love themselves better(promote their self image) and they will love you.

Each of us has a self image that serves as our main contact with reality, and its preservation and confirmation is the single greatest reason that we do the things we do. Believe that you are shy, friendly, Lazy, important, aggressive etc and you will tend to behave that way. And if you want to make people sad, mad or scared, just threaten their self image by saying something negative about them: either their works, looks, dressing, behavior etc.

Every customer you meet wants to have his self image confirmed and boosted. So focus on building the customer’s self image and you’re well on your way to selling yourself.

There are numerous ways you can boost a customer’s self image but the major one we will talk about here is to open an emotional bank account with each customer. Steven covey a management consultant came up with an interesting way of viewing human relationships. He said, with each new relationship we open an emotional bank where we can make deposits or withdrawals. When we help others get what they want and feel better, we are making deposits that may pay big dividends in the future; but when we call on others to help us or make them feel worse, we are making withdrawals. This concept can help us grow any kind of relationship(parent-child, husband-wife, boss-subordinate etc)

Suffice to say, therefore that to win your customer’s heart so that they keep buying from you, you need to boost their self image; this can be achieved thus:

1 . .  Develop a genuine interest in and admiration for your customers: get them to talk about themselves and listen with undivided attention. People are more likely to buy when they’re talking than when you are talking.

2..   Recognize and praise people for what they want to be praised for: With a little observation and common sense it’s easy to spot what people want to be complimented for. If you notice your customer is wearing a new dress, or jewellery or has a new hair style etc, acknowledge and compliment it. However, the compliments must be sincere and specific. Most importantly, if possible find a way to compliment the customer for something that results from having used your products.

3..    Put them at ease and establish rapport: we all prefer the company of people who make us feel accepted and relaxed. This can be achieved by you: smiling sincerely, maintain eye contact to show honesty and confidence, know the customer’s name and use it when speaking to him etc

4..   Use humor where its relevant and appropriate: Laughter is a fantastic influence tool. The most effective humor is brief and self-effacing. The shorter the story the greater the impact; and telling a joke on yourself tells others that you don’t take yourself too seriously and have the self confidence to laugh at yourself. This builds rapport.

5..   Let them know you’re thinking about them: Send your customer congratulatory cards or SMS for birthdays, promotions, festivities etc. Most customer’s hear from businesses only when they are trying to sell them. Be different. Shalom