Have you ever asked anyone a question
that can be answered in a sentence or two - and yet they're still talking 10
minutes later?
Or maybe asked for more detail on a
subject - and been given a one line answer?
Are you the person that is only
interested in the big picture? That is you tend to give very brief responses
regardless of the question? Or do you prefer to give a very detailed response
to questions?
What about others?
Have you ever noticed that some people
in your team or company complain that they're never given enough information
about what's going on – whilst others feel that they get too much
information to digest?
The level of detail we like to deal with
in any given context is another example of the beautiful diversity that is the
human race!
And it’s this diversity that will be at
play when you interact with your customers, your potential customers, your
colleagues, your team and yes, all of your personal relationship too. When you
speak; When you write; When you present; When you promote.
Which one are you?
So do you personally prefer THE BIG
PICTURE? Or maybe you simply can’t survive without THE DETAIL?
Whatever your personal preference, there’s a very good chance that somewhere in
your life, whether at work or at play, you’re prone to irritating someone whose
preference is at the opposite end to yours.
I suggest that for those colleagues and
others near and dear to you that you deal with regularly, tell them! Don't
expect them to have automatically worked it out. Where you can, indicate the
level of detail you prefer when they communicate with you, so they know how to
structure reports, suggestions, presentations and so on.
And your customers?
The customer with the General (big
picture) preference will go into shutdown when given too much information.
Those with the Specific (detail) preference will often be
dissatisfied because as far as they are concerned they haven’t received the
level of detail they need!
Communicating with your clients and
prospects
It’s fairly straightforward to identify
whether who you are dealing with is a Specific or General person.
Just by talking to them or reflecting on past conversations or emails will give
you the best clues. Do they communicate using lots of detail, or are they a
person of few words? Beware though that the Specific or General trait is context
dependant – meaning for example that someone could be very specific and
into their detail at home, yet come to work and be very general. And vice
versa.
Your ultimate aim if you wish to
generate better relationships and ultimately better results, is to vacate your
own personal preference - and match the preference of the person you’re
relating with. That way you’ll generate rapport, or stay in rapport, improve
the connection and achieve a more fruitful relationship.
Remember, too many details will confuse
and irritate a General person and too much vagueness will upset
the Specific person. So give them the precise level of detail
they need - and check for understanding.
Back to you
So do you have a Specific
or General preference? What about your customers and prospects?
Learn to quickly clarify whether their communication preference, match it - and
you're well on your way to those increasing
sales!
Until
next time.
Leigh
020 7903 5426
