Good Communication is the Foundation of Customer Relationships
By Michael J Griffin
4 minute read
B2B sales success is built on effective communication with the various stakeholders in the buying decision. Effective communication creates a competitive advantage for yourself and ensuring you and the customer can reach mutually beneficial decisions on moving the sale forward.
Research by Korn Ferry shows that the number of customer stakeholders in B2B sales is increasing an average of 6.4 people and the number of suppliers decreasing. You must communicate and connect to a variety of behavior and communication styles to get the sale.
“Birds of feather buy from each other. People naturally want to buy from salespeople they can communicate with, like and trust. “
Successful salespeople adapt their communication styles by recognizing different customer communication styles and adapting to listen, connect and serve each customer stakeholder to meet their needs and build trust.
The first step is to understand your own communication style. I use the EEO compliant DISC profile by TTI Success Insights to coach salespeople on discovering and adapting their communication styles. Basically there are four main styles with most people being a combination of two or more styles.
D - Dominant Style – Want results, enjoy challenge and are very direct. They ask “What?”
I - Influence Style – Verbal & optimistic, want to be trusted and trust. They enjoy “Talking.”
S- Steady Style – Team players, want process, need time to warm up. They ask “How?”
C- Compliant Style – Problem solvers, demand quality, reduce risk. They ask “Why?”
I discovered that adapting my style to serve my customers accelerated the sales cycle which helped the customer to make more informed wiser business decisions. How we might adapt our communication style is found in the chart below that was developed by Judy Suiter of Competitive Edge.
Use this chart to better analyze your customers, to better prepare your pre call planning, questions to ask and how you may adapt your communication style so you and your customers build trusting relationships that lead to win-win buying decisions.
If you wish to have a DISC Sales Communication Style Profile and gain insight on how you can be a better B2B communicator, email at michael.griffin@elavateglobal.com
Have a great week communicating and connecting to serve your clients!
Michael J Griffin
Founder ELAvate
TTISI Distributor
Sales Productivity Coach