Directing a conversation is an important skill on the telephone. You have only minutes to get the job done usually. Plus if you’re in a proactive role such as telephone selling or telemarketing you don’t want to do all the talking. I appreciate that many who try to sell over the phone ignore this. How many times do you receive sales calls at work or at home where they just do all the talking? Sometimes you find yourself having to interrupt them. This isn’t a great structure to what is supposed to be a 2-way conversation. Clearly. My rule of thumb is that a great sales call should be roughly 50% listening 50% talking. That’s what you should aim for.
It’s no different if you’re taking the call in a customer service role. The ratio will be affected by how much the customer wants to say though of course. If you deal with customers face to face (as I do), you will notice the contrast in time allocated on sales calls on the phone v. face to face. If I go to meet a prospective new client at their offices typically a meeting will last an hour or so. How many phone calls have I had that lasted 60 minutes while prospecting? None I think. Therefore if you have less time on the phone to get the job done, you have to be more structured, focused and organised.
We cover this subject on our 2 day telephone sales / telemarketing courses. It is included on the customer service on the phone courses run in-house too. The module is called Directing the conversation.
Telephone skills training courses
It is a fun, interactive session that has no script. Therefore, I don’t quite know how it is going to turn out. I enjoy that! We send a member of the team out of the room for a few minutes. The rest of the team decide something they want me to find out about their colleague when they return. They give me a random start subject. Then when the guinea-pig, sorry delegate returns to the room, I have to find out the information without them being aware of what it is I’m after. I remember one conversation with a client company in Coventry. I had to find out what brand of shampoo the delegate used but I had to start off talking about hickory trees in America. As I say very random! And we have a time limit with a timekeeper in the room of course!
How to do it
The key to finding out what you need to know in a way which makes it a proper 2-way conversation and which seems human is to use a combination of questioning and giving information.
You can find out more about this with our audio CD product How to get to where you want in communication. This is available through our shop.
The key is that you use your questioning to direct a conversation, with some self-disclosure. This makes the other person feel that you’re prepared to make the interaction into a ‘proper’ conversation. Which in turn makes it feel more natural.
Too much of either doesn’t work well. Too much questioning comes across a being like an interrogation. Which will make them feel defensive. But also too much ‘telling’ also isn’t great. It gives them the impression that you’re only interested in hearing the sound of your own voice. Which again is hardly likely to win friends!
Communication is key
To build a good trading relationship with any customer is about many things. Acting with integrity. Being present when you’re dealing with them. Treating them fairly. Communication skills too though are also a key component to good customer relationships. They need to feel that you listen to them attentively and you must use questioning techniques to find out what they want and what is important to them. Being able to direct the conversation is also a part of the overall mix which makes up good communication skills. However this module is seldom covered unlike listening and questioning.
Generally we run our 2 day core masterclass course on site at your premises at dates to suit you. The course runs with groups of up to 6 at a time. We also run open courses. This is the same material – albeit over shorter length days – allowing for participants travelling to the venue. See more details about our range of open courses here.
Directing the conversation is one of the important core communication skills subjects we cover on courses across the Midlands. Leicester, Northampton, Coventry, Birmingham, Daventry, Rugby, Lutterworth, Market Harborough, Oakham, Uppingham, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Bury St. Edmunds, Newmarket, Warwick, Stratford, Leamington Spa, Derby, Nottingham as well as wider parts of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. Contact us via e-mail info@tomarket.co.uk for more information.