MARKETING

MM AR k ETING

Fabrizio Pirovano

“All the world’s a stage”, Shakespeare said, and he had got a point

Marco Monti

HOW TO communicate (effectively) with a public of CUSTOMERS

Man has always found himself in front of people to whom to communicate something, with whom to discuss and share ideas or face difficulties; well, the ability to communicate effectively in public is an essential skill to demonstrate effective leadership. It seems obvious to underline the importance of transferring role credibility and concreteness when presenting a product or service to a customer, or simply during a meeting with one’s colleagues or collaborators, yet in years of consulting activity in private and public companies we have faced with people who do not give strategic importance to their communication. Well yes, it seems that the strength of the content is considered sufficient for it to reach the other side, to the public. However, we know very well, in our hearts, that this is not the case. What are the secrets of effective communication, such as the «tricks» of an actor’s profession, the secrets of those who fascinate us in a sale, on a stage or, simply, leave us an important trace of their passage in our memory, like a shopping experience not to be forgotten? We could answer these questions by addressing them to those who have hit the scenes and studied to honor the expectation of their audience, or to those who have studied as actors. We do not deny that we have attended school of theatrical improvisation and have hit the scenes a few times, but today we are more trainers and consultants than actors, and we have something we would like to share with you on this issue. First of all the basics that must be clear to all communicators: 1. You can’t not communicate1 2. The effectiveness of the communication lies in the feedback that you get and not in the intentions. 3. The public is a creditor.

Let’s address these three points in detail and see how they can be adapted to the case of a salesperson in managing a presentation to customers.

FIRST POINT

“One cannot not communicate” is a well-known axiom which highlights how every gesture, every attitude, every pause, every behavior produces inevitable effects on the recipients; this means that it is good to be fully aware that we can adequately influence our client through an appropriate and stra-

1 Paula Watzlawick ne “La pragmatica della comunicazione umana”, Astrolabio

tegic use of our non-verbal language (gestures, postures and looks) as well as the timely use of the voice and, then, of the arguments. If we place ourselves in a pedantic way, as «technical experts in the sector», even if this reflects our professional position, it does not mean that this is enough to get the message where we want and, above all, with the effectiveness we want. Our breaks, if right, will emphasize the relevance of the message while if used incorrectly they will make our public fall asleep! Not looking at customers in favor of our products means making our own business while the interlocutor is addressing us: what an impropriety! We can therefore summarize the first point with these key principles of the art of public speaking: ■ The voice, which has a 38% impact on the effectiveness of syntonic communication, governs the customer’s attention and is the key tool to underline, like a marker, some concepts that are more important than others. If we want to underline a message, we just need to introduce a preparatory break first and this will raise the attention and expectation of the interlocutor; then, after marking the (short) message, we will insert another closing pause after a waning tone of voice. ■ Eye contact is part of non-verbal communication (gestures, postures, etc.), however we prefer to give it its own independent dignity for a very simple reason: eye contact is the crosshairs of our communication! If we do not look our clients in the face while we speak we will never be able to make it clear that what we are saying is meant precisely for them. ■ The gestures and postures (which account for 55%) obviously add effectiveness to our words. The gestures should not be excessive, but sufficient to underline what we are saying by favoring a three-dimensional vision to our interlocutors. It is like saying that our message, supported by words and voice, is enriched with gestures and looks that make it complete.

SECOND POINT

“The effectiveness of communication lies in the feedback you get and not in the intentions” it means that the seller’s expectations are obviously important but never as important as the result of the work done. The desire to transmit content is never enough, if you want to transmit it correctly! How many times have we heard that certain types of customers were difficult and that nothing could be done to convince them... nothing more wrong: the responsibility for the effectiveness of the communication lies with the seller. There can certainly be difficult situations but it is rather disarming to hear sellers convinced that they have done their job well, regardless of the feedback gotten. For this reason, the purpose of a seller, as well as that of an actor on stage, must always be to respond to an expected need of the public (the customers) and not to «impose» the need as if it were dropped from heaven and the seller had the divine power to influence attention for the sole reason of having some important motivation to do so. In other words, we are underlining one of the most serious and recurrent misconceptions of “old-fashioned” salespeople: «What you say counts because it counts who says it». Incomplete! we’d say rather: «What is said counts because whoever says it counts and, since it counts, he also knows how to say it!»

THIRD POINT

“The customer is the creditor”. Yes, the customer is a creditor towards the seller for a simple reason: he has a loss of profit given by the time he will spend listening to you and he rightly expects it to be a profitable time, able to compensate for the renunciation of other activities simultaneously sacrificed for the purchase opportunity. If this is not the case, he will go buy somewhere else. Naturally, the customer’s expectation is the result of experience, and this is not comforting if we consider that most of the experiences of the «injured party» (the customer) are negative due to pedantic, self-referential sellers, disinterested in the priority of the interlocutor and convinced that «the strength of the content» is more than enough and that the techniques of persuasive communication and public speaking are useless. Finally, two words should be spent in favor of the content so as not to seem absurd in emphasizing the effectiveness of a sales argument solely on the basis of the ability to deliver it. What we say is undoubtedly important. What we say, the result of our competence, our preparation and also what is generally of interest to the customer, loses value if the seller is boring and detached!

TO SUM UP

The combination of content - what we say - and form - how we say it - will offer 100% of our effectiveness to a clientele who will be happy to listen, to remember and, above all, to buy, activating profitable word of mouth. The actors prepare a lot on what to say and so is the commitment on preparing how to say it. Make sure that your meetings and presentations are the right mix of content and form: the buying audience will thank you. ■

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