A well-constructed conversation during a phone call is the key to a good result. Perhaps the potential client will not agree to buy the product immediately and from your company, but he will remember the friendly attitude and professionalism of the specialist. Therefore, in order to leave the most favorable impression on the client, it is necessary to adhere to rules that seem simple at first glance. Why at first glance - now we will try to explain.
Incoming call response speed
Do not force the caller to listen to the dial tone; answer after the third time at most. This is the best option. It is also not recommended to answer after the first call: the interlocutor may experience misconception that you have no clients, and all you do is sit by the phone waiting for a miracle.
Voice intonation
A lot depends on the tone in which you communicate with your interlocutor. A person who has no knowledge or experience in your company's field of activity may bombard you a huge amount basic, in your opinion, questions. In this case, many employees have irritated notes in their voices. Contrary to the general belief that telephone communication can hide this, the interlocutor easily recognizes such intonation, and the desire to communicate with you further, as well as to cooperate with your organization, disappears completely. Be patient, that’s why you’re a professional, to answer all your potential clients’ questions.
Speakerphone and call hold
If you need clarification on a question, ask the other person to wait and turn off the microphone. Every program (if the call is made through a computer) and every telephone has such a function. There is absolutely no need for the client to listen to what is going on with you. Firstly, information constituting trade secret, secondly, he should not hear personal communication between employees who may not mince words. Speakerphone will also not improve the quality of your conversation. Annoying extraneous noises and poor audibility will not have any impact positive influence to talk.
Predicting what the other person might say
It’s good if you have a conversation script in front of your eyes. It’s even better if, in addition to the obligatory remarks from the company employee, it contains possible responses from the potential client to them. Having worked through possible objections several times, subsequently the correct answers will come on an intuitive level, and, sensing doubt in the interlocutor’s voice, you will already know how to dispel it.
Professionalism
Here we are talking about your competence as a specialist. You must have a reasoned and accurate answer ready for any client question.
Open-minded attitude
If your potential client is entity, it is unlikely that when you first call you will immediately get to the management. Most likely, either the secretary or another ordinary employee will answer you. But it is he who will make the first impression of you and convey all the relevant information to the person responsible for making decisions. And how exactly he presents it will determine in the future whether you will have a new client or not.
Ethics of communication
In addition to the basic rules of communication with a potential client, there is such a thing as ethics. He is treated no less simple recommendations, as in the previous case.
Greetings
If you have the opportunity to call a person by name, be sure to use it. The client appreciates individual treatment, this gives him the appearance that he stands out from the general flow of potential buyers. Wishing a person good day (depending on when exactly you are calling) also encourages mutual communication.
Performance
The caller needs to know if he got there. Just like when making an outgoing call, you must immediately indicate where exactly you are calling from. It would be optimal to name the organization and introduce yourself by name, so that the interlocutor’s imagination personalizes you, and does not paint him a picture of an incubator.
Politeness
It would be correct if at the beginning of the conversation you inquire whether it is convenient for your interlocutor to speak. If you do not do this, be prepared for the fact that in the middle of your fiery speech he may interrupt you and say that he is busy. It’s good if you manage to call him again after some time, but even in this case the entire script will have to be repeated again.
Parting
Be sure to check before hanging up to see if the other person has any questions. If everything is clear to him, wish him “all the best” or “good day” and feel free to end the conversation.
Stages of communication with the client
The stages of communicating with a client over the phone are standard. Much here depends on the specifics of the service or product offered:
- Greeting and making the client feel welcome. The more correctly you start a conversation, the more chances you will have to continue it.
- Specifying the purpose of the call. It doesn’t matter whether it’s an outgoing or incoming call, you need to find out or identify the main issue around which communication will be built.
- Presentation of a product or service. Focus your interlocutor's attention on the advantages and unique features of your offer.
- Work with objections. A stage that can almost never be avoided. To properly handle objections, entire trainings and scripts are compiled and conducted, so it’s good if you have a cheat sheet at hand.
- Make a deal. This stage is the goal of most outbound calls. Leading to him is the best result of your communication with the client.
- Parting. Intonation during farewell also plays a significant role. If successful, there is no need to show excessive cheerfulness, this way you will let the client know that this is only what was expected of him. His vivid imagination will instantly picture you sitting near the phone and cheerfully rubbing your hands. End the conversation in the same tone in which you started it.
Features of psychology
Before you try to sell a product or offer a service to a client over the phone, put yourself in their shoes. How interesting will your offer be to him? What benefit will he get if he agrees to it? What doubts may the client have during the conversation?
In medium and large organizations, the practice of conducting psychological training is widespread. This helps remove the barrier that many people have when making an outgoing call. Cold calling is an extremely thankless job. Most of them end in refusal, and the employee forms the opinion that this type of activity is not suitable for him. Therefore, most psychological trainings are aimed at employee development. If the operator feels comfortable when making a call, the conversation will go easier and in an atmosphere of greater ease than if he simply reads the script from the sheet, afraid to insert an extra word.
Be that as it may, putting yourself in the client's shoes means understanding his situation. In this case, it will be easier to explain to a potential buyer why your offer is most beneficial for him. Ordinary persuasion will not bring results; you need arguments and the ability to confirm them. Only in this way can you dispel your interlocutor’s doubts about the obligatory future acquisition.
What skills are needed for communication?
First of all, in order to be able to communicate with a client on the phone, communication skills are very important. Following them, an equally important point is stress resistance. It is not always the case that there is an intelligent person on the other end of the line who can politely refuse your offer. Sometimes the interlocutor may rudely say that he does not need your services or goods. You need to be prepared for this from the beginning and under no circumstances take this manner of communication personally.
The ability to quickly assess the situation also plays an important role in the process of telephone communication with a client. If interest slips into your interlocutor’s intonation, you can additionally (or instead) offer him to purchase related products. Sometimes it is the presence of an additional offer that plays a key role in making a positive decision.
In communication (including with a client), words do not play as significant a role as is commonly thought. Only 7% of information is conveyed through words; 38% can be conveyed through intonation, speech rate, and volume. 55% remain for body language (facial expressions, gestures, position in space). You can build an effective psychology of communication with a client using the DISC model.
In fact, what matters most is not how we convey information, but how we do it. What emotional responses do we usually expect from the client? Gratitude and participation.
How can you achieve these feelings?
- be attentive to the client, especially if he does not expect it;
- ability to hear the client;
- the ability to step into the client's shoes and take into account their circumstances.
It is unacceptable to build communication with the client solely on a rational (especially pragmatic) level. If the client has a positive emotion, it will lead to acceptance of the company, its services and products, and a desire to return again. This can be achieved if we prioritize the client’s needs and build connections that are based on emotions.
Practice opinion
The key point of contact with any client is empathy, that is, accepting a person as he is, but it is impossible to do this only on external level. Acceptance implies the absence of any struggle or confrontation. As soon as the client feels this, there will be trust. both contact and gratitude
Model DISC
The so-called DISC model will help you learn to understand how a client is able to express his feelings.
DISC is an acronym, each letter of which means a type of human behavior:
- D - dominant;
- I - influencing (influencing);
- S - stabilizing;
- C - conscientious.
Psychologists say that any person has basic trust or distrust in the world - this is the Y axis. A person can also have any position - active (the intention to change the world around) or adaptive (adaptation to circumstances and the intention to maintain such a norm) - this is the axis X.
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ACTIVE BEHAVIOR |
UNFRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT |
ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR |
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D - Dominant (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) Stimulus. Victory Fear. Defeat Stressed. Aggression Main questions. What? When? How many? Typical features behavior.
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in business: result |
S - Conscientious (“You can’t escape fate”) Stimulus. To be right Fear. To make a mistake Stressed. Care Main questions. Why? For what? Typical behavioral traits.
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I - Influential (show must go on) Stimulus. Confession Fear. Indifference Stressed. Obsessiveness Main questions. Who? Typical behavioral traits.
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in business: |
S - Stabilizing (“And we are pleased that you are pleased”) Stimulus. Predictability Fear. Changes Stressed. Conciliation Main questions. How? Typical behavioral traits.
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FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT |
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You can achieve such an attitude on the part of the client if an employee of the organization learns to hear, understand his client and show respect towards him.
A trusting relationship between a client and an employee will arise only if the latter hears, understands the buyer and demonstrates respect for him. To solve these problems, you need to apply several techniques in your work.
Adjustment (rapport) with putting the child to bed. First, the child is told a fairy tale, and the parent adjusts to his rhythm, and when the child begins to doze off, the speaker speaks more slowly and quietly, leading the child to sleep. Rapport promotes understanding of a partner, helps to become understandable to him, including him as part of a single system with a single rhythm and pattern of behavior. Let's say an administrator, speaking to a client on the phone, adapts to the pace of the client's speech - if he speaks slowly, the administrator should also slow down his speech.
How to Apply the DISC Model
Let's say your employee works with a “stabilizing” client. Such a person is friendly, listens with attention, asks and clarifies, but has a hard time making decisions. When communicating with such a client, give him comprehensive information, be sympathetic, and help him make a decision.
Practice opinion
Vladimir Puzyrev, magazine expert, psychotherapist, director of the “Company of Useful Adventures”
Adjustment that provides quick contact and understanding (regardless of the type of client) can be at several levels: speech adjustment (tempo, volume, intonation, temperament), bodily adjustment level (posture, movements, breathing), emotional contact (mood). After the adjustment stage comes the maintenance stage. You know what to offer, how to convey it and what the result should be. By adjusting, you can do it much easier
If your client is yelling, tell him that you know how he feels and understand his position. You can even say words like “Yes, I understand, you are angry, you are outraged this situation" Then ask the client clarifying questions - you need to find out what he didn’t like. Next we offer ways to solve the problem. Finally, we agree on how to implement the chosen solution, or look for a compromise.
In most cases, the main problem of employees is the inability to listen and hear the client, the lack of desire to take his position and understand what points are important to him. It is not always worth convincing a client of anything by proving him wrong or insisting on his own. If you see a client as a communication partner, you will be able to reach an agreement with him.
Practice opinion
Vladimir Puzyrev, magazine expert, psychotherapist, director of the “Company of Useful Adventures”
The position of “Director”, Leader allows you to manage any conflict situation. Play by your own rules. Acceptance, participation, attention, and then offering your own, optimal scenario. Empathy and independence make you a professional communicator
The use of active listening in communication (the administrator says to the client “aha”, “that’s right”, repeats certain words for that purpose) and paraphrase (the client explains something, and the administrator clarifies in the answer “You say that ...", “So ...”, “Did I understand you correctly that...” with repetition of the client’s phrases) gives a positive result in communication. This moment in the psychology of communication with the client makes him feel heard and understood. After this, your client must confirm or refute the administrator’s phrase and offer new arguments. By skipping this step, you won't be able to show the client that you want to understand their desires, and you may miss the opportunity to build trust.
Don't forget the 3 YES rule. Ask questions to which the client is guaranteed to answer “yes” (for example, “do you want to receive a quality service?”). After three “yes”, the likelihood of a positive answer and agreement increases many times over
Psychology of communication with clients: five recommendations
- The employee must be self-confident (without fawning or arrogance when working with clients)
- Politeness and good manners (it is necessary to say to the client “please”, “thank you for calling us” - this is the required minimum).
- Positivity (minimize the use of the particle “not” and words using it)
- Understanding (you need to listen to the client and be able to ask him intelligent questions).
- Ability to provide effective customer feedback.
All these and other laws of effective interaction need to be constantly developed. Some people have it naturally, others have to learn it. To develop these skills, there are master classes, books, seminars, trainings, or often psychological help in solving personal problems
1. Smile
It's free and it prolongs your life. And, perhaps, it works most effectively. If you are on opposite sides of the computer, you can still smile at the client: in a friendly tone in a letter, on a website, on social networks. Politeness is the key to anyone, even the buyer of a concrete mixer! :)
Imagine that you are creating a shopping cart in your online store. In one case, the site tells the buyer “Thank you! We have received your order, today we will collect it and prepare it for shipping. Our courier will call you in advance to coordinate delivery time,” and in the second, “Order No. 123 has been sent.” What text do you think is written with a smile?
2. Ask
Just don’t even think about asking the question “Can I tell you anything?” An emotional person may think to himself, “Am I blind? I can already see everything!” Of course, he won’t say this out loud, but he may be left with the impression that he was looked down upon in this store. The same goes for other phrases: “Do I need help?” - “Am I completely weak?”, “What interests you?” - “If I had known, I would have bought it right away”, “Have you already chosen the right product?” - “If you are in a hurry to sell me something, then I will go to another store where they will not pester me.” Of course, we are exaggerating a little, but main idea did you understand. This also applies to online sales: intrusive pop-ups and direct messages repel, rather than push to purchase. It’s better to ask who he is buying the product for, clarify the details of the order, packaging, and delivery. Ask the buyer questions that he will be happy to answer.
3. Be hospitable
This is more difficult than it seems, although you can say: my salespeople or myself are always friendly, what more do you need? But buyers always sense feigned politeness “for show,” and distinguish it from true hospitality. Imagine that each of your clients is an old acquaintance whom you have not seen for a long time. You will immediately feel a friendly attitude towards him, but it is difficult to hide it.
4. Ask for feedback
The client will be happy to spend a couple of minutes with you to tell you what he likes about the product and what he would like to improve. It’s the same with social networks: users are more willing to repost and answer questions under photos and videos if you directly ask them to do so. This way you can more effectively collect information about products and improve them.
5. Be proactive
Immediately inform everything about the order: timing, price, special delivery conditions, lack of a specific model in stock. Most orders in a store follow a well-trodden path: a person finds out the price, delivery and payment methods, and then makes a decision to purchase or postpones it. Don't make him pry every detail out of you.
6. Respect the visitor's decisions
The client is uncomfortable communicating with you on the phone in work time and is it much easier to respond to messages in the messenger? Great! Don’t miss out on a regular client just because you’re not used to communicating with clients, for example, on Telegram.
7. Pay attention Special attention to those who doubt
The most common reason is price. A person thinks: “Is this product worth the money they are asking for it?”, but not everyone dares to openly say that it is expensive for him. Offer him a similar product, but cheaper, ask what the buyer’s expectations are from the purchase. Remember that the final decision is always up to the buyer, so give him the opportunity to choose.
8. Don't judge the buyer
Especially according to appearance- he can be very deceptive. The worst thing is when the seller’s attitude towards the buyer, his politeness and willingness to help directly depends on this. Be caring and attentive to any buyer - this will help reinforce in him the desire to make a purchase from you.
Service in different service sectors requires special approaches to clients. There are both general rules official communication and specialized techniques of business communication. As practice shows, following recommendations from psychologists and marketers in this area helps to increase the efficiency of an organization, as well as create a positive image for it in the market for providing certain services. At the same time, the rules of communication with clients also provide for compliance with basic standards of behavior, which are determined by ethical considerations and general ideas about morality.
How to establish communication with a client?
In the very first seconds of the conversation, you should let the interlocutor know how his time will be spent. It is advisable to omit unimportant phrases, even if they are planned to be used as a means of winning over a potential client. Politeness is important, but overuse of politeness can create a negative impression. Standard interactions with clients also exclude attempts to get a quick response from the client agreeing to anything. You need to be understanding of his right to refuse and also respond adequately without changing. Even if a particular client is lost forever, a negative impression of the company will remain and may affect the image in the future.
The beginning of the dialogue should be as informative and comfortable as possible. It is advisable to briefly but clearly talk about the purpose of the conversation, the intentions on the part of the employee and explain exactly how this contact can be useful. An individual approach also matters. For example, the rules of communication with a manicurist’s client provide for the initial construction of a confidential dialogue. Specialists in this field work directly with the human body, therefore, without a hint of sincerity in in this case not enough. The so-called ones, for example, should not be used.
General principles of business dialogue
After the introduction and the first introductory information, the employee is given no less responsibility. Even if the client has directly expressed his interest, you should not relax. Communication should be built in the style of a friendly conversation, but without serious deviations on topics not related to the company’s offer. At the same time, you should not overload the client with an excessive amount of data. If you have to discuss a wide list of issues in one conversation, you need to initially systematize them, as required by the basic rules. Communication with the client must be initially thought out and prepared. It is recommended to prepare lists of questions in advance or at least keep them in mind, discussing them in doses during the conversation. But it’s also not worth asking them in a continuous stream. After each question, you can take short pauses, include correct jokes, or shift attention to less complex aspects of the topic under discussion. The client should feel comfortable, but at the same time not fall out of participation in the discussion.
The role of emotions in the communication process
Exist different points views on how and whether a manager should show emotionality at all. The cold calling technique has already been mentioned, the very idea of which is based on the complete exclusion of this aspect. In other words, the employee is required to inform the client dryly, correctly and relatively quickly and, if necessary, obtain the necessary information from him. But such calls do not at all exclude formal compliance with the rules of communication with phrases of gratitude, apology and appropriate farewell.
But the same rules of communication in a beauty salon with clients exclude such a technique. And not only because of the need to build trusting relationships, even if business basis. Long-term relationships with business partners and clients are more fruitful when employees show their human qualities. Open and sincere expression of emotions is attractive and puts people in a more positive mood. Another thing is that such manifestations must be controlled and not conflict with the interests of the company providing its services to the client.
Features of dialogue on the phone
The specifics of telephone conversations also require their own characteristics. When starting a conversation, it is not recommended to use phrases like “You're worried about...” or “You're worried about...”. Although they are outwardly harmless, they initially create a negative stylistic connotation, which should be avoided. Next, you need to introduce yourself from the company and get straight to the point. When making incoming calls, the rules for communicating with clients on the phone also do not recommend picking up the phone after the first signal. An immediate response may mean that the manager is either impatiently awaiting this call or is inactive. Even if in reality everything is different, it is advisable to give the client the opposite impression of being busy, that is, answer after the second call. In the future, the course of the dialogue should be built with an emphasis on correct intonation. As experts note, the tone and manner in a telephone conversation sometimes have higher value than its content.
Rules for communicating with older clients
This is a special category of people, which also requires a special approach. A peculiarity of an elderly person from the point of view of participation in a business dialogue is a violation of attention and concentration. That is, the manager will need to demonstrate larger share patience. But there are also positive aspects. In particular, in such dialogues the percentage of conflict-generating phrases is minimal, which guarantees comfort for the employee himself. One way or another, the memo on the rules of communication with older clients recommends more thoroughly forming a trusting contact with the person and thoroughly explaining to him the nuances of the offer. It is advisable to minimize manifestations of insincere emotions. Although they may seem truthful from the outside, it is older people who often reveal them, which becomes a barrier to further interaction.
The nuances of communicating by email
Electronic correspondence as such greatly simplifies the manager’s tasks. Of course, a lot depends on the format and conditions in which the dialogue is conducted, but the absence of the need to hold the client’s attention and stir up his interest in this case makes it easier. However, the text itself should be as informative and useful as possible and at the same time not too dry. For example, the rules for communicating with clients via email indicate the need for a short summary part in the letter. That is, at the very end there should be a reminder of what step or decision is expected from the addressee.
What can and cannot be said?
Experienced managers, almost at the level of reflexes, exclude from the process of communication with clients undesirable manifestations in manners, speech style and statements. In particular, the rules and standards for communication between staff and clients strictly prohibit criticizing their actions under any pretext. On the contrary, employees need to demonstrate exclusively positive attitude, and problematic nuances and situations are resolved by a senior manager or supervisor.
Also, in communication with the client, a lack of indifference is encouraged. This can be expressed, for example, in efforts to anticipate his desires or plans. That is, the employee offers in advance suitable services that have not yet been discussed, but they may well follow. In this context, the rules of communication with a manicurist’s client can be expressed in the provision of an expanded range of services that will organically complement the existing list of the completed offer. So, along with a traditional manicure, a visitor may need a SPA session. Clients are more willing to agree to additional services when the offers come from an employee.
How to end a dialogue correctly?
As noted, it is advisable to end conversations with a brief reminder of what decision will be expected from the client. In this sense, the rules of communication with clients in a hotel, for example, require the manager to remind the client about the location of the establishment, opening hours and reception times. But in any case, the potential client should be left with a favorable impression. This concerns not so much his interest as the emotional aftertaste, which should be positive.
Conclusion
IN last years experts note a trend towards simplifying communication standards in business. The fact is that strict rules for communicating with clients complicate the conversation process, and often make it stereotyped and repulsive. Therefore, the emphasis is increasingly placed on more open, sincere and, again, emotional dialogues, which make it possible to reduce the distance between the company representative and the client. Another thing is that this style of behavior requires considerable experience, and brings good results only in certain areas of service.
Classmates
From this article you will learn:
- What you need to know about proper communication with a client
- How to turn communication with a client into your company's golden fund
- What are the best communication techniques to use with clients?
- What not to do when communicating with a client
Today, business relationships between people around the world are based mainly on trade. This can be not only the sale of goods, but also services, copyrights, etc. Thus, our society is divided into buyers and sellers who are in constant interaction with each other. And the success of all trade transactions depends on how high-quality this cooperation will be, how competent the communication with clients will be. Of course, this is not the only criterion for the success of a trading business; first of all, the quality of the product or service itself is important. But many shortcomings can be compensated with the help of proper communication. A buyer who is satisfied with the service will definitely come back to you again rather than go to competitors. And, conversely, if your staff is not attentive enough to visitors or is rude, the buyer will not cross the threshold of your store again, no matter how high the quality of the product. This article will touch on all the nuances of interaction with consumers, provide examples of correct communication, consider phrases that should not be used, and will also examine various techniques, successful from a psychological point of view. The article will help you build a competent sequence when communicating with a client and attract new customers.
How to establish proper communication with clients
Regardless of how communication with the client is structured - via telephone or personal contact - it is the first impression that plays a fundamental role and ultimately influences the outcome of the conversation. Here it is important to follow a number of rules, as well as adhere to the sequence of stages when interacting with the consumer. The most important rule– directing the conversation in the direction you want and guiding the interlocutor. You need to not only be able to tell him about the advantages of your product and service and the benefits of cooperation with you, but also ask the right questions in a timely manner in order to identify the client’s needs and preferences.
Communication should be open and friendly: you should not raise your voice, argue, put pressure on the buyer, impose your product on him, or be overly annoying. But it is important to be the leader of the conversation and be able to keep everything under control. It is important to conduct a dialogue, involving the interlocutor in communication, and not just speak a memorized boring speech. You need to interest him in your product or service, as well as gain confidence and persuade him to interact with you.
How to properly clarify customer objections? Find out in the training program
How to behave during a conversation
The correct behavior of staff plays a big role. The likelihood of a purchase will increase significantly if the manager’s cooperation with the client is successful. It is important to show proper and at the same time unobtrusive attention to the buyer, showing him that you are interested in him being satisfied. To do this, you need to be able to win over your interlocutor using a smile and a friendly tone. Emotionality in communication is also very important: the buyer will not show interest in either you or the product if you speak in a monotone. If you use the right emotions during a conversation, this will help interest your interlocutor and make the dialogue more lively and relaxed.
Every salesperson needs to have good diction. It is important not only to know what exactly needs to be said to the buyer, but also to be able to do it clearly and correctly. The manager must not have a speech impediment. The buyer should see in front of him a real professional who knows how to talk about the product, answer all his questions, and with whom it is pleasant to have a conversation. No one is interested in an insecure employee who cannot put two words together. When communicating with a client, it is also important to get to know him and in the future address him by name. Such psychological technique helps to place the interlocutor at ease, making the communication more personal. It is very important to listen to the buyer and in no case interrupt him, but at the same time direct the conversation in the right direction if he begins to move away from the main topic.
How to properly talk about a product or service
Difficulties often arise when communicating with a sales client at the very first stage of the conversation - he is initially not interested in hearing about the product. How to advantageously present your product or service to the buyer? The main task is to interest him in the product and draw attention to your company. People love promotions and special offers, and you can’t help but take advantage of this to attract new customers, as well as retain existing ones. When communicating with the consumer, tell them about ongoing promotions, explain all the benefits of purchasing this particular product, and interest them in a new product that has recently entered the market. Find out the needs and interests of the client in order to offer a product that is suitable for him, meeting all his wishes and requirements.
Having decided on the buyer’s requirements, focus his attention exclusively on those details that interest him. There is no need to overload your interlocutor with an excessive amount of information in which he will only get confused. During communication, it will be sufficient to correctly place emphasis and describe the product precisely according to those parameters that are interesting to the client. The final stage is to work through all the potential buyer’s objections, thereby dispelling his doubts and encouraging him to make a purchase. Even if the consumer, after communicating with you, refuses to purchase a product or pay for a service, you need to remain friendly and polite towards him. Then there is a very high probability that the visitor will come to you in the future, remembering your professionalism and desire to help with the choice. Therefore, comply correct sequence stages when communicating with a client are very important if you want to grow your business.
Simple rules for communicating with clients
There are many examples of successful sales, when a person just went to a store for fun, and after talking with an employee trading floor went out with the purchase. This speaks of professionalism and high level seller training. Many consumers need to be nudged into making a purchase. For this purpose, specialists in the field of trade and psychology have developed a number of rules. If sales managers follow them, the company's turnover will definitely increase.
- Customer focus. The most important thing when communicating with a client is to convince him that you are pursuing his interests, not your own, and really want to help him. This will build trust in the buyer and help win him over. Openness and goodwill are some of the main keys to success. You need to be especially careful in those moments when the visitor asks you questions. Answers should be as informative and detailed as possible. You need to show that the buyer is important to you, and you are ready to answer all his questions. Indifferent, dry remarks will leave a bad impression of the quality of service.
There are several ways to show your interest:
- When talking with a buyer, your attention should be focused only on him. You cannot be distracted by extraneous matters;
- communication should be emotionally charged. It is important that the interlocutor sees a living person in front of him, and not a robot;
- when communicating, you need to look your interlocutor in the eyes;
- it is important to conduct a dialogue, encouraging the client not only to listen, but also to speak;
- It is necessary to provide as much information about the product as valuable to the buyer as possible, but at the same time be careful not to overload with unnecessary information.
When communicating with the buyer, try to speak in a language that is as understandable to him as possible. There is no need to delve into professional terminology that a person does not understand. If we are talking, for example, about a blender, it is not necessary to say that its power is 1500 watts. This information may be completely useless to the client. It will be much better if you list the main products that can be crushed with it. So you'll talk about technical specifications goods, but they will be clear not only to you, but also to the buyer.
- Don't stoop to the client's level. At first glance, this is quite strange advice, because the first rule says that you need to speak to the buyer in his language. This is undeniable. This rule was created only to warn you against the possibility of a conflict brewing when communicating with a client. The contingent of buyers is completely different, and not all of them know how to communicate adequately, allowing themselves the use of profanity and rudeness. It is in these cases that one should not be like ill-mannered people and respond with aggression. It is important to be able to remain calm and find the strength to always be polite and friendly. The reputation of the company you work for depends on it.
- The customer is always right. This is a long-worn rule that all sales managers have learned by heart. But it is not entirely correct. Every seller understands that in fact, the client is right in very rare cases. Most potential buyers don't know what they really want and understand your store's products much less well than you. You are the owner of the store, not the client, and it is you who are in charge here, because everything that happens to him depends on you: whether he can find the product he needs, whether he leaves with the purchase. But the buyer should under no circumstances know this. He must believe that only he is truly right.
- Don't insist. When offering your product or service, do not go too far and do not be too intrusive. There is no need to put pressure on the buyer, forcing him to make a choice and make a purchase right now, if it is noticeable that he is not ready to do this. A person should not have the impression that you imposed a product that he did not need at all.
- Don't get lost. If we are not talking about a one-time sale, but long-term cooperation (regular deliveries of goods, construction, large projects, etc.), a very important rule for communicating with the company’s clients is to always be in touch. Firstly, the customer may want to know how the work is progressing and at what stage of the process, whether everything is going according to plan and whether he should worry. Secondly, the client may want to make some amendments to the original project plan. Keeping in touch is in your best interest. If the customer remains dissatisfied with the result of the work on which you spent more than one day, it will be much more difficult to correct everything than if checks and adjustments were made in intermediate stages.
These five rules of communication will help you not only find the right approach and win over any buyer, but also bring him to the conclusion of the transaction.
Basic generally accepted standards of communication with clients
Every self-respecting organization must develop internal regulations and standards of communication with the company's clients. They are aimed at properly establishing a dialogue with the buyer and building a competent sequence of stages of communication with him. This article will describe the basic standards on the basis of which you can develop your own regulations.
1. Emotional attitude and openness to the client. The employees of the sales floor or sales office should look so that the visitor wants to contact them. Here we are not talking about the external characteristics of the staff, which, by the way, is also important, but specifically about the image of a friendly manager, ready to advise and help. Sellers, of course, are people too and have the right to be in a bad mood, but this should not in any way affect communication with clients. Bad mood should be left at home or on the street, and at the workplace the employee should be with a friendly smile, and not scare away visitors with a sour expression on his face.
2. The client should not wait. There is hardly a person who dreams of sitting in line for an hour or two. Waiting is painful for anyone. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your customer service is structured in such a way that there are as few waiting visitors as possible. If there are such people, you need to show maximum care for those who are waiting in line. First, you need to apologize to the person and clarify how long it will take to serve him. Often this is important, since perhaps at this time he will be able to resolve some of his other matters. It is also necessary to keep the guest occupied with something if he is waiting for his turn in the hall: this could be magazines, catalogues, tea, coffee. The most important thing is that a situation does not arise: a visitor came in, but you did not pay attention to him because you were busy. It is important to meet the client and let him know that he will definitely be served.
3. Be able to conduct a dialogue. To win over your interlocutor and impress him, you need not only to be tactful with him, but also in relation to your competitors. You should not compare your product with someone else’s, pointing out the disadvantages of others and your advantages. You are unlikely to build trust if you discuss your competitors. There is also no need to engage in excessive self-promotion: this will look like boasting and exaggeration of existing advantages.
It is better to avoid large monologues, lengthy descriptions and explanations. It is worth remembering the main characteristics and advantages of a particular product and conveying the essence to the buyer without overloading him with unnecessary information. If you talk too much and for a long time, then, firstly, you can easily get confused yourself, and secondly, you can quickly tire the client. So that the visitor does not get tired of listening to you, you need to communicate with him in the form of dialogue, ask questions, and involve him in the conversation.
4. Be able to hear and listen. These similar concepts are somewhat different, because listening and hearing are different things, and a true professional in trading and in communicating with clients should know these differences. Listening is the ability to demonstrate to your interlocutor that you are listening. There is a special technique of active listening that anyone can master: you need to look into the eyes, nod, and do not interrupt.
The ability to hear is the ability not only to listen to a person, but also to understand everything that he wanted to convey to you. Understanding the buyer during communication with him is often very difficult. Many factors play a role here: people see the same things differently, a person does not always have sufficient knowledge to correctly express his thoughts and wishes. In such cases, you need to be able to unobtrusively get to the bottom of the truth, ask leading questions, and find out as many details and details as possible. Sometimes it’s enough just to put yourself in the shoes of your interlocutor and look at the question through his eyes. When you master the ability to listen to people, you will not only be able to quickly help the buyer solve his problem, but you will also be able to easily manipulate him, which is useful for the seller.
5. Address the client by name. How can you win over your interlocutor with just one word? Say his name. A banal truth that has great success in communicating with the client. When you address a person by name, it creates a more comfortable, inviting and trusting atmosphere for him, and also emphasizes the importance of this particular buyer to you.
6. Don't lie. Your reputation will be completely damaged if you are caught in a lie. Never exaggerate the merits of a product or say something that is not true. Even a small lie can cause irreparable harm and lead to loss of trust on the part of the client.
7. Always do a little more than required. A very simple, but at the same time effective technique. Exceeding consumer expectations is quite easy. You need to pay him a little more attention, provide an additional, even the most insignificant, service, pleasantly surprise him, and he will become your regular customer. The more you do for the buyer in the form of some kind of additional bonus, the more you will receive in return. He will be more willing and with great interest to talk to you about further cooperation if you charm him with your special attitude.
Consistent stages of communication with the client
Stage 1. “Making contact” or “Establishing contact”
Any sale or transaction is impossible without this stage.
Goal: to attract the attention of a potential buyer to yourself and encourage further communication.
Before moving on to identifying the client’s needs, it is recommended to resort to communicating with him on abstract topics. There are a number of techniques for establishing contact with a visitor. You can offer tea, coffee, make a couple of compliments, etc.
It is very easy to understand whether you managed to establish contact with the buyer by his actions. If he actively enters into communication, reacts positively to the words and actions of the seller, behaves at ease and relaxed, we can conclude that a connection has been established. If the client is tense, tense, avoids communication, answers questions dryly and briefly, and looks away, this indicates that it was not possible to establish contact. In this case, the stage of making contact needs to be given more attention, using various techniques.
Stage 2. Identifying needs
Goal: to identify the client’s preferences and wishes.
The more accurately the manager is able to identify the buyer’s preferences, the more favorable he will be able to present the product, which will ultimately lead to a purchase.
To find out the client’s needs, the manager must use the correct sequence when communicating with him, be able to ask the right questions, listen and understand the interlocutor.
Stage 3. Presentation
Goal: to offer exactly what the buyer needs, based on his needs identified at the second stage of communication.
When presenting a product or service, the main thing is to convey to the client the benefits of purchasing the product. It is important here not to confuse the concepts of “benefit” and “advantage”.
Advantage– this is the benefit of this particular product in comparison with analogues. Anyone who purchases this product will receive this benefit.
Benefit- this is a feature or characteristic of a product that can satisfy the specific need of this particular buyer.
Thus, knowing all the needs identified during communication with the visitor, all that remains is to correctly present the product, which in its characteristics corresponds to the client’s wishes. It turns out that any product parameters can be beneficial for a certain client.
Stage 4. Dealing with objections
Purpose: to dispel the buyer’s doubts about the quality of the product or its compliance with the requirements, as well as the need for the purchase.
The better the previous stages of interaction with the client are worked out, the fewer objections will follow. Perhaps the manager will conduct all communication so correctly that he will not encounter any objections at all.
Often objections are related to the fact that:
- not all buyer needs were identified;
- Initially, poor contact was established and insufficient time was spent communicating with the client;
- the presentation was uninformative and could not give full description goods, and thereby answer all the buyer’s questions.
Every manager who wants to achieve success in sales should try to minimize the number of objections, because their excess is a signal of a poorly done job of interacting with the client.
It will not always be possible to completely avoid objections, so you need to learn to respond to them correctly and take appropriate measures.
Strictly adhere to the scheme for handling objections:
- listen to the buyer's objection;
- smooth out his emotions by using phrases of understanding (“I understand your indignation”, “Yes, I agree that it’s unpleasant...”, “I understand what it’s like...”, “I understand you”);
- obtain the necessary clarification through leading questions;
- offer an alternative solution to the problem.
Stage 5. Completion of the transaction
Goal: to bring the buyer to make a purchase and confirm the correctness of his decision.
At the transaction completion stage, you need to make sure that the client is ready to make a purchase. The manager can judge this by his behavior:
- the client has already formed a positive opinion about the product;
- he agrees with the manager's words;
- directly says that he is ready to purchase goods or enter into an agreement for the provision of services;
- interested in clarifying details.
Transaction completion methods:
- compliment method (“You did right choice»);
- a method that sets a certain time frame (“If you make a purchase within three days, you will be given a 20% discount”);
- a win-win alternative (“Send measurers to you tomorrow or Friday?”).
The company's turnover directly depends on the professionalism of the customer service manager. The more skills and techniques he has, the more sales he will ultimately be able to make. Therefore, it is important to constantly train your staff and improve the skills of employees, send them to training sessions and lectures, develop and motivate them.
Psychology of communication with clients: effective techniques for working with difficult consumers
It is thanks to difficult clients that you can quickly identify and eliminate the shortcomings of your company, because such visitors will rush to point them out to you. The principle of working with such clients is to neutralize the pressure they exert, rather than ignore it, and at the same time be able to transform them into the status of loyal customers.
- Rudeness and aggressiveness of the client.
When communicating with a client, you should never become like him if he behaves unworthily. In response to rudeness, abuse, disrespectful statements and gestures, he should see only your friendliness and calmness. You cannot allow your interlocutor to make you angry.
Rudeness is used in cases where there are no other ways to prove one’s innocence or defend one’s interests. When a person has tried all other methods, used all the arguments and lost patience, he begins to be rude. Therefore, such harshness does not express the strength of the interlocutor, but only indicates his helplessness.
When dealing with such customers, it is important to give them the opportunity to blow off steam and show them that you are ready to solve the problem. You need to listen to the client without interrupting him. The right thing to do is to put aside all emotions and, without paying attention to the presentation of information, get to the core of the issue. To do this, you need to show your interlocutor that you are ready to listen to him calmly, no matter how much he swears, that you do not intend to argue, but want to help in solving the problem.
In the event that a scandal occurs in front of other visitors, try to take the client away as quickly as possible in order to continue communication in private or as far as possible from strangers.
- Softness, shyness.
There are types of people who will not make contact themselves because they are shy, do not want to distract, or are very shy by nature. When a manager communicates with such clients, he needs to show as much gentleness as possible: no pressure, more smiles, encouraging remarks, pushing him to make a decision. Such a buyer needs to be led and guided, helped to make a choice and at the same time be very tactful and unobtrusive.
- Client's indecisiveness.
Do not confuse indecisive people with soft ones. Indecisive customers are mainly those who are afraid of making a mistake, and therefore cannot make a choice or decide whether they need a purchase in principle. Such buyers will constantly question the decision they have already made, clarify details, and seek advice again and again. It is difficult for them to choose just one thing. They will rush between different models of the same product and will not be able to select the one that suits them, because they will doubt that it is the best. When dealing with such clients, you need to intentionally narrow your choice. You shouldn’t offer them six options at once; it’s enough to focus their attention on two, and only if they refuse these options, offer the other two. This way you will help customers make the right choice, and the purchase will not drag on for several days.
Such clients should also not be put under pressure or rushed. In no case show that you are tired of their indecisiveness, but on the contrary, try to encourage and support their desire to make the right choice. When communicating with a buyer, you need to instill confidence in him, dispelling his every doubt.
To encourage an indecisive person to make a purchase, it is often not enough just to present the product correctly. Nessesary to use additional tools. In this case, you need to indicate limited quantity of this product, an upcoming price increase or something else that will make the buyer understand that they should not delay the purchase, but should hurry up and make a decision.
More intermediate fixations mean more chances to reach an agreement as a whole. To prevent the client from changing his mind in the future, say that work on the agreed upon issues is already underway. Sometimes this is done on purpose so that the buyer does not return to this again. It’s better for him to be scared and refuse altogether than to endlessly deal with his doubts, wasting time and not being sure that the deal will go through.
- Familiarity.
There is a category of visitors who themselves have an excellent command of techniques for communicating with people and methods of manipulating them. They will behave overly friendly, trying to arouse your sympathy and thereby achieve a special favor towards themselves, in the hope of receiving some personal bonuses. The manager’s task during communication with such clients is to show that he is also friendly and ready to cooperate, but adhere to business style communication, demonstrating professionalism and seriousness.
- Talkativeness.
As in life, at work you can often encounter a chatty client. It is quite difficult to conduct a dialogue with such a person. Nevertheless, you need to try to focus his attention on your proposal and control the communication process. Here you need to have time to competently insert your lines into long monologues during pauses, without interrupting your interlocutor.
Ask leading questions that bring the buyer back to the topic of conversation, focus his attention on the product. Do not try to say more than the interlocutor, strive to say the most important thing. Your task is not to talk the client down, but to convey the essence to him.
- Client's silence.
A chatterbox can be contrasted with a silent visitor. The difficulty in communicating with such clients is that sometimes it is not easy to understand the person’s reaction to your words. Here it is important not to go into a long monologue, but to involve your interlocutor in dialogue, asking his opinion and encouraging him to communicate. It is best to provide information in portions, constantly monitoring the buyer’s reaction.
You need to ask as many questions as possible that identify the person’s needs, and in those rare moments when he speaks, listen carefully to him. The Echo method will work great here. The essence of it is repetition. last words interlocutor.
- Demonstration of competence.
This buyer is well versed in your product and is familiar with its properties and characteristics. He will rush to demonstrate his knowledge during communication, considering this to be dignity and superiority. You need to be tactful and not try to compete with him, proving that you are more knowledgeable. Give him the opportunity to show off his knowledge. Try to have a casual conversation, ask questions and be an attentive listener.
If the buyer expresses his personal opinion about a specific product, clarify what exactly it is based on. To do this, use the following questions: “Why did you decide this?”, “What is the reason for this?” Try to translate the buyer’s personal attitude towards the product into a set of specific arguments. It will be much easier to respond to them than to try to convince your interlocutor.
If during communication with a client you notice that he is mistaken, you do not need to directly point out the mistake and try to correct him immediately, as this may cause a dispute. Remember that your task is to sell a product, not to impose your opinion.
What rules dictate the ethics of communication with clients?
Professional ethics of communication with clients includes the following rules:
- always be able to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and under no circumstances allow him to be treated in a way that you would not like to receive;
- if an ethical violation occurs, correct it immediately as soon as it is identified;
- maintaining tolerance of company employees to the moral principles, customs and traditions of other organizations and the surrounding world as a whole;
- have your own opinion, but understand that it is not the only one that has the right to exist;
- freedom that does not limit the freedom of others;
- ethical professional behavior of the employee, which leads to the development of the organization from a moral point of view;
- When communicating with a client, it is not allowed to put pressure on him or display his superiority in the behavior of the manager;
- everyone possible ways find a compromise and avoid conflict;
- the employee must not only behave correctly from an ethical point of view, but also encourage the client to do so;
- Avoid criticism of your interlocutor.
When communicating with clients you cannot:
- throw mud at competitors. You shouldn’t discuss your competitors or talk badly about them, even if it’s true. If the client himself asks your opinion about a particular company, your review of it should be as neutral as possible, and it would be most correct to refer to your ignorance of how things are going with competitors. Client's opinion about third party organizations must be formed without your participation;
- use slang. Often employees communicate with each other and understand each other perfectly, but from the outside it seems as if they speak foreign language. It will be difficult for the visitor to understand you and correctly navigate your terms. Therefore, communication with clients must be conducted in a language they understand. Sometimes it’s even better to show clearly what you are trying to convey to your interlocutor;
- let your emotions control you. No matter how difficult the interlocutor may be, no matter how much he tries to piss you off, your main rule is to remain calm. We are all, of course, living people and have the right to emotions, but not the client manager. In response to any of his actions, the consumer should see only your goodwill and no irritability or aggression.
How should you communicate with a client over the phone?
When communicating with a client on the phone, the most main role intonation plays. The impression of a conversation is formed in the first 20 seconds of communication. During this same time, the person decides whether he wants to continue the dialogue with you. Therefore, you need to pay attention to how you present information: your voice must be confident and your speech clear.
Structure telephone conversation something like this:
Preparing for the conversation:
The telephone conversation itself:
There are many techniques for communicating with clients over the phone. One of them is based on identifying the interlocutor’s main sense organ for perceiving information. The fact is that to understand the world around us, we all use hearing, vision, touch, kinesthetics, and smell. But every person has a leading way of perceiving the world, by identifying which you can easily interest the client. You can determine the leading modality based on a conversation with him.
Examples of client statements indicating the predominance of one or another way of perceiving the world:
- visual: “It looks attractive”, “This description seems vague to me”, “I see it this way...”, “Let's try to shed some light on this problem”;
- auditory:“I heard you”, “Everything is happening out of sync”, “That sounds good”, “I just can’t tune in to what you’re saying”;
- kinesthetic (motor, motor):“Try to weigh everything carefully”, “I feel that I can do this”, “He gives off warmth”, “This is a very slippery situation”;
- olfactory:“It would be great to give this a good try,” “I just smelled a solution.”
For many people, the priority way of receiving information is visual, and this is easy to understand by the use of verbs that define visualization: “see”, “imagine”, “seems”, “observe”, “appears”, “decorate”, “looks”, etc. d. Such people perceive better what they see than what they hear. They prefer to watch rather than listen to descriptions, even the most detailed ones. During communication, clients will record important points: They really like visual examples, draw up an action plan, take notes.
Auditory orientation is characteristic of a much smaller number of people. When communicating with such consumers, you will hear verbs related to hearing: “heard,” “sounds,” “pronounced,” “crackles,” “creaks,” etc. These interlocutors have good auditory memory and are able to remember most of the conversation without any notes or notes on paper. Such people love to communicate, but are also easily distracted by extraneous sounds.
A very small group of people are oriented towards a kinesthetic style of communication. When speaking, they often use verbs: “building”, “creating”, “using”, etc. Such people need to be constantly on the move; it is difficult for them to sit in one place. They show expression in communication, actively using facial expressions and gestures.
How to establish online communication with clients
It is necessary to join the circle of your target audience and establish contact with them. To do this, they use various thematic blogs, pages that a person must subscribe to, all kinds of mailings and subscriptions. Create a team of like-minded people and actively communicate with their leaders.
Use your data, prepare for meetings with your team:
- select a few of the most important ones this moment questions (three to five);
- check out the profiles of your interlocutor on social networks;
- make up psychological picture person, indicate on paper your assumptions about him;
- decide what exactly is important for you to get from a person and how to build communication with the client.
Communication via e-mail:
- Seamless pick-up. If there is a need to replace a manager leading a specific client (vacation, sick leave, load distribution), this replacement should occur unnoticed by the consumer. To do this, the new manager must become familiar with all the nuances of conducting a transaction. The previous employee, who is aware of all matters, must help him with this. He must transfer all related materials regarding this buyer and tell as much as possible about the details of the work carried out and upcoming work with him.
- You cannot change the subject of the email. During correspondence, the subject line of the letter should remain as it was originally. Then the client and you will have the opportunity to filter this particular correspondence from other letters. If you change the subject even a little, the letter will not get into the filter and will be lost. If some correspondence has come to a logical conclusion, and there is a need to continue communication with the consumer on other issues, a new topic is assigned to the conversation.
- Talking topic. The topic should be structured in such a way as to convey the essence of the entire conversation.
- Reply All. In the case when several interlocutors are involved in the correspondence, it is necessary to use the “Reply all” function when responding to letters so that all participants in the conversation are involved in it and are aware of what is happening.
- SummaryAndcall to action. At the end of each letter, summarize and remind what result you want to achieve. This is how you program the client’s actions to achieve your goals.
- Resume after communication on Skype. After finishing communicating with a client on Skype, the correct thing to do is to send him a letter describing the essence of the conversation and summing up the results. This way, you will be sure that no one will forget what you said.
- The last word. Always try to ensure that the communication is completed by you. To do this, at the end of the conversation, it is enough to use the phrases: “Thank you for your cooperation!”, “Thank you for your time!”, “Have a good day!”
Classic phrases for communicating with clients for all occasions
1. Incoming call (external/internal).
- Greeting (external):“Good afternoon/morning/evening, company (name), position, department, name, I’m listening to you.”
- Greeting (internal):“Good afternoon/morning/evening, position, department, name, I’m listening to you.”
- Phrases excluded:“How can I help”, “I’m listening”, “You’ve got it”, “(company name) is listening”, “Hello”, “At the machine”.
2. Outgoing call to a new client.
- “Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name).”
- “Please tell me who I can talk to about organizing staff training?”
- “Please tell me who in your company is in charge of purchasing?”
3. Outgoing call to the current client.
- Phrases excluded:“Do you recognize me?”, “Can I disturb you?”, “He’s calling you,” “Sorry for disturbing you.”
4. Outgoing call to an old client who needs to be returned.
- “Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name), can I talk to (full name)?” If necessary, you can clarify what issue you are talking about.
- “Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name). Is it convenient for you to talk now?”
- If the answer is yes:"Thank you! We have already collaborated with you (what kind of cooperation exactly), we would like to continue cooperation. Tell me, please, are you interested in (clarification)?”
- Phrases excluded: “Calling you,” “Worriing you.”
- If the answer is negative:“When can I call you back, so that it is convenient for you (to clarify the time and date)?”
5. The client came to the office.
- Unfamiliar client, greeting:“Good afternoon/morning/evening, (come in/take a seat)”, “I’m listening to you.”
- Phrases excluded:“Who are you seeing?”, “Man!”, “Woman!”, “Who are you looking for?”; Phrases not recommended:“Can I help you with something?”, “Are you looking for something/someone?”
- Familiar:“Good afternoon/morning/evening, (come in/have a seat)”, “Nice to see you.”
6. Meeting at the client's office.
- Unfamiliar client:“Good afternoon/morning/evening, my name is (name), I am (position/department) company (name), can I meet with (full name)?” If necessary, clarify on what issue.
- Familiar client: " Good afternoon/morning/evening, First name/last name/patronymic of the client, glad to see you” (you can give a compliment).
7. Ending the conversation.
- By phone or in person:“It was a pleasure to talk to you! All the best, have a good day/week/weekend!” etc.