Strategic communication! The Foundation for Successful Leadership

Benefits of Strategic Communication

• Paraphrase demonstrates, through behavior, that you are interested in what your customer is telling you. It conveys intentions of building rapport.
• Perception Check is one of the most caring skills we can utilize. It conveys concern for your customer – for his/her feelings. Most of us would like to be able to discuss our emotions, but are rarely given permission to do so. Perception Check gives that permission.
• Active Listening Skills can satisfy the deep subconscious needs of your customer – to feel important, to feel valued, respected and worthwhile.
• Active Listening Skills teaches how to ask good, penetrating questions. Listen for the unspoken messages conveyed through tones of voice, facial expression and posture.
• Your signal of interest (words, tone, gestures, eye contact, and body language) demonstrate Congruence in Communication and builds a privileged relationship.
• Ask Productive Questions. Listen carefully. Don’t mentally wander when your customer is telling you something you’ve heard a hundred times before. Utilize your “Lag Time”.
• The Role Renegotiation Model is beneficial in the following areas: First, useful in the building relationships with your customer. Second, the Role Renegotiation model tells us how we can get along with your customer. Third, helps us manage relationships in such a way that it is productive and not disruptive. Fourth, fundamental in establishing and building initial rapport and most importantly, “long range” relationships.
• Behavior Description helps your customer differentiate between actual behavior and inference, to coach your customer to describe the behaviors that caused him or her to draw a particular inference and to point out in congruence in your customer’s communication.
• Productive Questions are the fuel for perpetuating the conversation and creating privileged relationships. These questions prompt your customer’s stories and participation, which gives your customer permission to tell more.
• Active Listening Skills give you the courage to test your assumptions. Incorrect assumptions lie at the root of numerous communication failures.
• Focus on your customer and give them individual attention…creating positive outcomes!
• Direct Expression of Feeling is sending an “I message” (first person) in which the salesperson owns his/her feelings. Indirect expression of feeling is sending a “you” message which puts the burden on the customer. It is more confusing and hurtful to the customer when a salesperson described his/her feelings indirectly rather than directly.
• When you listen to your customer, you will often hear criticism directed toward you or your company. There are four listening skills that can be helpful when dealing with criticism: Paraphrase, Perception check, Direct Expression of Feeling and Fogging.
• Fogging keeps the critical cycle from starting and stops the critical cycle once it has begun. Negative Inquiry is coaching your customer to constructively criticize you in specifics, rather than in generalities. It is a form of creative questions.

Additional information:

http://www.newhopechurchpa.org...

Contact:

Len Deane Jr.

deaneL70@verizon.net