“Bad hair day”
Who would thought that my bad hair day can teach me so much about listening client and business.
Have you ever been approached while walking down a street by someone trying to promote a product, service or charity? I’m sure you know what I mean – this street based approach, while often annoying is extremely effective and used widely in our larger towns and cities. Who would say that this kind of approach can teach me how to listen clients in your online business.
It is unusual for me but today I stopped – I wasn’t in my usual rush and I heard something that caught my interest.
“The Hook”
“Would you like to get a professional haircut in a top salon?” I was asked by a young man as he approached me.
That was the hook, the words that caught my interest and made me pause.
“Hmm… a haircut? Well, I need one” I thought to myself.
To me, it was obvious I needed a good cut and I even felt a little self-conscious that a strange man had noticed and felt the need to direct me to a salon!
My hair must have looked worse than I had realised! So I stopped and listened to his sales pitch. “We have a special offer today; for just £40 you can take advantage of our annual membership. This membership is for one of the top salons in Knightsbridge – Knightsbridge is an exclusive residential and retail district in West London, south of Hyde Park; it is where many of the rich and famous go shopping.
This offer sounded really good, in fact, it sounded too good to be true! I was a little suspicious and wondered what the catch could be.
Are you listening to me?
“There is no catch, we have a limited promotion and if you join today you will be entitled to all of the treatments and services at the nearby salon as well as other top London salons.” It all sounded very good but I was only really looking for a good salon for a haircut.
I tried to explain this but the young man just spoke over me, repeating the “amazing discounts”. He was totally focused on extolling the benefits of the offer which he listed repeatedly. It was becoming extremely frustrated as I tried to explain I was only interested in having my hair cut!
I obviously realised that the offer was a package deal but I didn’t know if it even covered just a hair cut and no matter how many times I tried to ask, the young man just kept telling me about all of the discounts I could get on services and products I didn’t want.
“I am not interested in that special offer. I just want to get a good haircut. What if I try your haircut first; if I am really happy then I will sign up for membership” I suggested.
If only he had listened!!!
It was at this point he tried the famous sales technique called guilt trip and said in an offended tone “We should just leave it then, it looks like you are making fun of my offer now” At this stage it all began to feel a bit ridiculous to me as I could not seem to get an answer about what I needed, so I wished him a good day and left.
Do not get me wrong, it was an interesting offer. The concept was good and had I been assured it included haircuts I would have more than likely made a purchase. I was not prepared to sign up without some assurance that the product met my needs.
I wanted nothing more than to hear “We have the best team in London and discounted haircuts are part of the membership package. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed with our haircuts and could even take advantage of some extra pampering too” and I would sign up on the spot!
How to be a good listener?
How well do you listen? How do you listen to your clients in your online business? How well do you listen in your coaching business?
Maybe you think that client contact and listening with an online business is irrelevant – but the opposite is true. No matter what you sell or offer or how you sell it, you are still dealing with human beings.
We all want to be heard, seen and understood. That’s the difference between active listening and ordinary listening. Difference between getting your client, being present with your client, reading between lines and truly understand what he/she wants vs automatically repeating lines of a special offer you got to sell.
So how good listener are you?
P.S.: If you feel like being the one who is constantly misunderstood and nobody can really get you, know, that I am here for you. Let’s talk! Ask anything
