Learn how to have a conversation, on the other person’s terms

01 December 2022

Building on the coaching tip to “Learn how to sit down and have a conversation with a stranger…”, and wrapping into it a graphic shared by Sanket Jagtap, from Stephen Covey’s, Seven Habits, and the concept of “Listening with the intention of understanding, rather than listening with the intention of replying” try adding “on the other person’s terms…”

“Learn how to have a conversation, on the other person’s terms”.

A purposeful conversation driven by curiosity, and framed with intentionality, to build a deeper understanding of the other person’s context, priorities, and feelings. As they move through the early stages of a sales engagement, how many sellers are achieving this with intentionality?

Most sellers claim (self-reporting) to be good at building relationships, it is after all what they are supposed to be doing. They may claim to be good at “pressing the flesh”, “talking to people”, and being a “relationship seller”. Whether any of these sellers ever graduate from having a series of one-sided (talking at) conversations, to establishing deeper, prospect-led relationships, is for the savvy sales manager to determine, and to coach them through.

Developing self-awareness is the launch point for starting this, and there aren’t many starting points better than Stephen Covey’s book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

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CPV have taken the mystery out of the sales process and shown us how to do it for ourselves, now I feel much more in control of our business” – PW, MD Financial Services SME

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