A Peek Inside Your Clients Head

[Identifying Behavior Patterns Within Seconds]

A few years ago, I was visiting a potential client.  The client wanted to outsource a sales training program that was different from the “Basic Sales Techniques” training used over the years. He wanted something new and different; a training program that the sales organization would find progressive and something that added more creative resources and value for the time spent. I asked how he knew the last training program they used did a good job for them? The client said that after about six months the results began to emerge. He could see it in the increased market penetration and number of sales orders received, yet over the past quarter sales began to slow again. I was curious how many times the sales people had to perform well before he was convinced that the training program was successful. The client stated again that it took about six months of activity to prove the value of the training program. I also asked the client what was important to him about the creative resources and value a new training program would add. He said that the sales organization needed more relationship-oriented principles that were not so technique oriented. Something that built trust and gave the sales people more knowledge about how to establish a strategy around approaching and really serving the customer.

I now received enough information to know exactly how to assist the client. You may be asking what specifically did I receive and how did I identify the unconscious processes needed to add value to the client and help him get what he wanted?

There are three important behavior patterns identified: 1.) Decision Strategy; 2.) Convincer Strategy and 3.) Motivating Words or Criteria.

1. Decision Strategy [This category determines how a person gathers information to make a decision. The person's information gathering process may be to See, Hear, Read, or Do.] 

 I asked, “how he knew the last training program they used did a good job for them”. The client said that after about six months the results began to emerge. He could see it in the increased market penetration and number of sales orders received.

The italicized words above reveals the Decision Strategy “formula”. You can add any context appropriate as long as the formula is used. Notice that the context is “the last training program they used”. The Decision Strategy is bolded and underlined. The clients Decision Strategy was Visual and I will show you how I applied this information in a moment.

2. Convincer Strategy [People are convinced and moved to action concerning information based on one of the following processes: Number of Examples; Automatic; Consistent and Period of Time.]

 I was curious how many times the sales people had to perform well before he was convinced that the training program was successful. The client stated again that it took about six months of activity to prove the value of the training program. The Convincer Strategy formula is italicized and again, you may use any context that would be appropriate. In this case, the context was “the training program”. The clients’ Convincer Strategy is shown in the bolded and underlined words. The client’s Convincer Strategy was six months.

3.  Motivating Words or Criteria [Provides information about how a person is motivated or could be motivated in a particular context. These words represent a person's core values in a particular context.]

 I also asked the client what was important to him about the creative resources and the value a new program would add. He said that the sales organization needed more relationship oriented principles that were not so technique oriented, something that built trust and gave the people more knowledge about establishing a strategy around how they approached the customer.

The Motivating Words formula is italicized and again, you my  use any context that would be appropriate. In this case, the context was “the creative resources and value a new training program would add”. The clients’ Motivating Words are shown in the bolded and underlined statements. The client’s Motivating Words were, needed more relationship oriented principles; not so technique oriented; that built trust and gave the people more knowledge about establishing a strategy around how they approached the customer.

Notice how the unconscious processes and Motivating Words are used in the following statement to the client.

“Mr. Client, may I show you just how our training programs create more relationship oriented principles for each sales professional without using those technique oriented approaches. When you observe the result of our training programs, it is very easy to see sales organizations building trust and establishing strategies around how they approached the customers. By the completion of the training programs, you may even be pleasantly surprised by the next six months of results. I am curious, Mr. client, at what level would you like to see your sales increase or percent of market penetration change over the next six months?

By using your clients internal and unconscious strategies and the actual words and phrases, which cause them to self motivate, you are creating a deeper level of rapport and trust and most importantly giving your client what they want. These alignment processes are a “systems” way of showing total respect to your client. With the knowledge of how to “peek inside your clients head”, your ability to serve respectfully becomes a natural business principle.

 Marvin Sadovsky, PhD