© by Wayne Ens
In a recent MarketingSherpa survey, buyers and sales people were asked, “Why do buyers leave?”
Not surprisingly, the top answer with sales people was “price”. The top answer with buyers, however, was “service”.
But multi-tasking, tighter deadlines and technology have redefined the world of selling, and how buyers define service.
Service that was once measured by the amount of face-to-face time you dedicated to your prospects, is now measured by busy buyers based on how much face-to-face time you don’t occupy to achieve their objectives.
Buyer styles that were read face-to-face through ‘body language’ or verbal tones, now often have to be assessed through ‘literature language’ received in hastilycrafted emails.
Relationships that were once built exclusively on face-to-face communication and personality are now also impacted by your ability to communicate effectively with technology and to convey your personality, and read your prospects’ personalities, through the written word.
Your ability to write succinctly with empathy, and to read between the lines in client emails, are skills that are as important today as the questioning and negotiating skills you acquired when you were learning face-to-face selling.
P.S. Our Customer-Focused Communications workshops will help you understand what’s behind the emails you receive and how to reach and influence your prospects with new technologies and the written word.