OBJECTIVES
- Enhance your client’s experience by asking questions that get at what’s most important to them.
- Demonstrate your empathy by being completely present when your client is talking.
- Help the client feel heard and understood which helps you build the relationship you need to obtain the desired outcome.
- Captivate the client and connect deeply despite the barriers posed by technology.
TECHNIQUES
The best presenters in a hybrid world share their content around planned moments of engagement with their clients. They prioritize engagement above all else. This is an entirely different mindset and delivery approach than the traditional presentation, creating a much more positive client experience and increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome. Let's take a look at techniques you can use to create these moments.
A. Engage the client in conversation
It is challenging to engage your client in any meeting, and especially difficult in a hybrid meeting. Even so, whether in-person or virtual, your client will only be engaged when one of these three things is happening:
- They are talking.
- You are talking about them.
- You are making them think.
Everything you do should try to get to one of these three. Here are techniques to use:
1. Ask good, timely, open-ended questions
A sales meeting is not about what you are selling but about what the client is trying to accomplish. Ask questions to learn about them. Questions that help the client think about their situation in a new way. Questions that challenge the way they are doing things currently. Questions that reframe their challenge and create urgency. Questions that help them see the opportunity cost of not taking action. Questions that uncover new insights they hadn’t thought about before.
Use open-ended questions that cannot be answered with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Open-ended questions typically start with ‘what' or ‘how’.
Examples:
"Tell me about what you do in this area.”
"What expectations do you have of…?”
"How do you go about xyz?”
"Tell me about the most challenging aspect for you when..."
“I'd like to share X with you, but before we start, what else do you want to be sure we cover by the time we're done with this meeting?”
“What will make this meeting successful for you?”
Through the client’s responses, you will learn what's important to them and how they are thinking about their challenges, both of which will help you guide the rest of the conversation.
A word of caution. As with most things in life, you want to strike a balance. Talk less and ask more questions, but be mindful of not going overboard and asking so many questions that it feels to them like an interrogation. The best meetings are when there is a natural conversation flow back and forth.
2. Apply the 'nowhere to hide’ rule
In a hybrid meeting, your attention is naturally drawn towards the people in the room. You must be deliberate about ensuring that virtual attendees feel seen and heard too. You want to prevent them from retreating into an observer role because when this happens you have to work twice as hard to bring them back.
Create an opportunity to engage your client at least every five minutes. Switch between looking at those in the room and looking at the camera to send a clear message that the virtual attendees are important to you. Ask questions of those attending virtually as often as you ask questions of those in the room.
3. Talk less, listen more
In a study of 25,000 sales meetings, the most successful hovered around a 43:57 talk-to-listen ratio. Based on this research, you should do only 43% of the talking — that is less than half the time. This is counterintuitive to most sales professionals. You think your job is to educate your clients. But to quote Brian Tracy, “Selling is not telling.” It’s about helping the client align your product to their challenges.
Be hyper-aware of your airtime. Limit your talking to 60-90 seconds. If you've gone on for more than two minutes without a very good reason, cut it off and check-in with the client or ask a question.
4. Provide ah-ha moments
A good sales conversation should have the client talking more than you, but clients are also looking for your insights. Share something with them they did not know before that will make them smarter or help them with their situation. This may be a valuable perspective on the market, a broader view of their alternatives, solutions they never considered, or ways to avoid potential landmines. Just be mindful of how much wisdom you impart and how much airtime you take to share it.
5. Respond to their questions engagingly
Reply by using their name, it’s a nice personal touch.
Examples:
”Mike, that is a good question.”
“Kim, thank you for asking that”.
Their question alone gives you more information to shape the rest of the conversation. If the question is simple, answer it, but then ask a follow-up question to draw them out. If the question is more complex, ask a follow-up question before answering to get them to clarify or tell you more about what they are asking.
The client will never say the same exact thing twice; they will elaborate on or fine-tune their prior question because they've now had more time to think it through.
Then, restate or rephrase their new question and ask for confirmation before responding.
B. Communicate to build connection
In a hybrid meeting, it is challenging to create a connection with everyone when your attention is split between clients in the room and those on screen. The energy in the room dominates, in part because the personalities of virtual attendees do not shine through like those in the room. It’s challenging for them to interject when they have something to say and challenging for you to read their cues.
How you communicate matters. Here are a few tips that will keep your client engaged and drive deeper connection in a hybrid meeting.
1. Talk slower
Speak at a moderate pace, not too fast or too slow. This makes it easy for the client to keep up with you and absorb what you are saying.
2. Talk in shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs
Make your points in short sentences and paragraphs so they can take in what you just said and process how it applies to them.
3. Pause more often
Pause more often than you normally would and pause longer than what feels natural.. The best presenters understand that a pause isn’t a moment of nothing, it’s a moment of connection. It’s a moment that grabs the client’s attention and brings them back from wherever their mind may have wandered. Pauses give your client time to process what you just said and chime in with questions or opinions.
When you are quiet they will talk. Here are key moments when a pause will get them talking.
- Pause to spotlight what you will say next. It will heighten the tension and spike your client’s attention.
Example:
“This next point is really important . . . (pause, pause, pause, pause.)”
- Pause after you share a key point. This pause says, “I want you to think about that for a moment…”
- Pause (pause, pause, pause) after you ask a thought-provoking question to give them time to formulate their answer.
4. Modulate your voice
Increase or decrease how loudly or softly you speak, and change your pitch to emphasize important words or phrases. When you vary your pitch and projection, you make the meeting far more interesting and energizing.
Sometimes the most important things are said more quietly and slowly. Somethings they are worth repeating. When you say “Let me repeat that…”, it clearly signals to the client that what you are saying is very important.
TIP: The sound quality for virtual attendees won't be as good as it is for those in the room, so don't speak too softly.
5. Use the client's name
Our ears perk up when we hear our name, so this is a great way to spike your client’s attention. Here are opportune times to use their name to your advantage:
Use their name before you ask a question.
Example:
“John, I am very interested in your thoughts on this. (Then ask the question.)”
Use their name when reframing a subject to re-engage them if their listening dropped. By using his name first, John will listen to your entire reframe and be well-positioned to respond.
Example:
“John, what kinds of conversations have you had regarding (reframe what was just said)?”
When sharing something intriguing, give them a heads up that you will ask for their input.
Example:
“John, I want to spend a few minutes on X. At the end, I would really like to get your reaction.”
John is now alert, he knows how long he needs to listen, and he knows he needs to be ready with a coherent thought when you are done speaking.
6. Be you
Buying decisions are largely based on emotion, so let your excitement, passion, and energy show through. It will have a mirroring effect on your client. They will begin to feel your excitement and share your passion. Clients will also pick up on your level of authenticity. They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
ADVANTAGES TO YOU
- You hold their attention.
- You demonstrate you are interested, listening, and care about their outcome.
- You establish a relationship despite the barriers of the hybrid meeting.
- You are able to shepherd the conversation through the questions you ask, directing it to what's most important to them and aligning your strengths to their challenges.
ADVANTAGES TO THE CLIENT
- Frequently inviting them into the conversation allows the client to ask questions and for the discussion to flow naturally.
- They feel heard and understood.
- They feel a connection with the team and confident you can get the job done.
- This is an experience they feel good about and will remember.
RELATED LESSONS
Presenting in a Hybrid World (Five Part Series)
Available upon request from info@thebardgroupllc.com
“The more fully you are engaged and they are engaged, the better the outcome.”
Brett MacInnes