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#6 Know it all but don‘t be a know-it-all
Always be well informed, but back off when it comes to your clients expertise. Want to know the details? –>
| Say “I really think that the current economical crisis will have a sustainable effect on how big companies think on spending their marketing budgets. How is the situation at your company?” |
instead of “I think if you want to do it right, concerning the current situation, big companies should increase their spending on marketing activities. I have heard your company is cutting back?” |
| Say “I heard that the Frizzante is the better sparkling wine than the Spumante. I have to say the more carbon in the Frizzante really makes it more appealing to me. What do you say as an expert on this?” |
instead of “I know that the Frizzante is the superior sparkling wine because it contains higher carbon. All experts are agree on that. What is your favorite?” |
Looking for more? Details on each rule will be posted daily, one by one. Watch out for the new posts and follow the links below (shown once published)
#1 Be positive (link)
#2 Show solutions not problems (link)
#3 Explain, don‘t teach (link)
#4 Let them know, but don’t tell them (link)
#5 Be precise, but not overly precise (link)
#6 Know it all but don‘t be a know-it-all (link)
#7 Show sympathy and be helpful (link not yet published)
#8 If the client gets out of line, don’t (link not yet published)
#9 Say “Yes, and…” instead of “No, but…” (link not yet published)
#10 A shut mouth catches no flies (link not yet published)
Where did these rules come from?
Well…, most of my professional career I have been working in client service, thus working with clients… And when it comes to communication then I have witnessed and experienced many occasions where just choosing the wrong words lead to a major misunderstanding, to dissatisfaction, even to frustration and anger.
I also witnessed that a few adjustments of your communication can help reaching a mutually beneficial outcome of a maybe difficult and negative situation (like telling the client that the delivery will be late). These little adjustments is what I summarized for me into my “10 rules for better communication”.
These ten rules don’t claim to be complete or foolproof. They are just based on my personal experience and are the 10 rules that have helped me most over time. I hope you will enjoy reading my “10 rules for great communication” and I also hope that you will not take everything literally, meaning you don‘t have to start all of your sentences from now on with „Wow, …“ (first example in rule#1)… :-). And yes, the examples are exaggerated… 🙂
All examples are very focused on a consultant-client-relationship as this is where I spent most of my professional time. But I am sure that with a little imagination you could easily translate that into any industry.