Master the art of conversation and you'll develop better client relationships (Photo by Ian Britton)
Conversations with prospects and clients can be challenging. You want to understand their needs and concerns while at the same time explain how you can help them and persuade them to buy your services. It can be a difficult road to walk and sometimes you stumble, but nothing trips you up more than when the client says your price is too high. How do you respond to that? Charles H. Green says it comes down to understanding why the client believes that. Follow what he says to do in his article, What to Say When a Client Claims Your Price is Too High, and you can develop a deeper relationship with the client and possibly save the sale.
Another stumbling block during conversations is failure to base your statements on facts. You cannot make claims and recommendations without having facts to back them up, Michael W. McLaughlin says in his article, Give Clients the Facts, and You’ll Get Them to Act. If the discussion bogs down over the validity of your facts, you’ve pretty much lost them. On the other hand, “having the right facts, at the right time, helps you build trust and credibility with clients,” he says.
Important conversations are also taking place in the online world, as more buyers turn to online communities and social networking sites to learn about services. Ardath Albee, author of the new book eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale, says in her recent interview with RainToday that services firms must provide marketing content that educates, engages, and encourages interaction with prospects. Those interactions can also help you develop relationships with prospects and clients.
Two platforms perfect for engaging prospects and clients are Twitter and blogs. In the past few years international law firm Harris and Moure experienced just how helpful a blog can be to attract new clients. It set up its China Law Blog as a way to get in front of companies that do business in China. By writing about things a business would want to know regarding the legal issues surrounding operating in China, as well as general Chinese business culture, the firm attracted new clients and generated seven figures worth of work.
Twitter can play a big role in spreading the word about your blog and in getting prospects to notice you and talk with you, but Eric Rudolf warns against misusing the social network. If you use it improperly, you risk alienating people. But if you use it well, you can enhance your thought leadership, create relationships, and give your firm a market advantage. Take a look at Rudolf’s five Twitter rules for businesses to make sure you aren’t making mistakes that can negatively impact your firm.
