Small Talk Is a Big Deal in Business

By Leng Hu

In most cases,a salesperson will resort to two ways of communicating with their customers—one is the explicit way,with the topic focusing on the product itself,and the other is quite implicit,with the topic totally unrelated to the product.The explicit way is the main channel,which determines the success of your marketing strategies,and the implicit way is the psychological one,which determines how far you can delve into the inner world of your customer.Only by a successful mixture of the two ways can a salesperson close a deal in the shortest period of time.So,what kind of topics should be covered in the implicit way?Simply put,small talk.

Chatting about one’s past experiences helps you understand the potential demand of a customer,because past experiences are the deciding factors of what sort of products and services a person favors.For example,when someone from a humble background becomes well off,they often pay great attention to improving quality of life,yet they’ll never splurge with money.If we can probe such kind of information,we might as well take“quality” as the focus in promoting a product.For instance,you can say,“This redwood furniture you picked will definitely lighten up your living room.When you invite your relatives and friends over,I’m sure they’ll be deeply impressed.”By such a way of expression,you’ve seized the potential demand of your customer to boost their ego and show their economic status.In doing so,you’ll have a higher probability to close the deal.

Chatting about the current living conditions of your customer will help you win them over,because people’s status-quo often determines how much they need a certain type of product or service.For example,if your customer is a richly bejeweled lady,it could mean that she might have raked in a large sum of money recently,so the top priority is not the highly cost-effective products,but those with which they can show off to others.In this case,think about recommending products with a flashy appearance and low cost performance,and the customer will have a stronger desire to buy them.

销售员和客户的沟通，往往走两条路线：一条是明线，谈论的话题围绕产品；另一条是暗线，谈论的话题和产品无关。明线是主线，它决定着你营销行为的走向；暗线是心理线，它决定着你对客户内心世界的探索面积。只有两条线都走好，才能在最短的时间内完成交易。那么，暗线要围绕哪些话题去走呢？两个字——八卦。

八卦过去，是为了了解客户的潜在要求。一个人青睐什么类型的产品或者服务，往往和他们过去的某些经历有关。比如，有的人出身贫困，那么在经济状况改善之后，他们会注重提高生活档次，但也不会大手大脚地乱花钱。如果我们能够窥探出这类信息，不妨在向客户推销的时候，把营销重点放在“品质”二字上，比如可以这样说：“您选购的这套红木家具，能够让整个客厅焕然一新，如果您有亲朋好友拜访，会给您挣回不少面子。”这样的表达就是抓住了客户想要改变自身形象、展示经济地位的潜在需求，顺着这个思路进行沟通，成交率会大大提高。

八卦生活现状，是为了更好地说服客户。客户当前的生活状态决定了对某一类产品或者服务的需求程度。比如，客户是一位戴着珠宝的女性，和你交谈的时候还有意无意地展示它们，那就意味着对方最近赚了一笔大钱，所以对方需要的不会是性价比很高的商品，而是奢华的能够拿出去炫耀的东西。这时候，你就要推荐那些性价比不高但是闪耀度很高的商品，对方购买的意愿会增加。

八卦家务事，是为了锁定核心目标。作为销售员，你要明白一个道理，手里揣着钱的人未必是最终的决定者，他们也许是奉命行事，而躲在他们背后的那个人才掌握着话语权。所以和客户聊天的时候，可以侧面打探是刚结婚还是刚恋爱，然后从对方对恋人的描述中窥测出他们之间的关系：如果话语权不在他这边，就要从讨好恋人的角度进行营销。比如，一位男客户想要购买一个拉杆箱，你就可以趁机推销一款时尚的女包。如果客户处于热恋期或者蜜月期，他很可能会有购买的意向，说服难度很小。

八卦爱好，是为了寻找沟通的切入点。如果我们去客户的公司拜访对方，发现桌子上摆放着一些营养品，那就意味着客户对养生之道比较关注，这时我们以此为话题和对方聊天，会让对方很感兴趣又不会排斥我们的推销。我们甚至可以将产品或服务与养生保健联系在一起，这样既能强化客户的购买欲望，又能够缩短彼此的心理距离。

（摘自《销售心理学：直抵客户内心需求的成交术》天津人民出版社）

Chatting about household chores can help you to pinpoint the target.As a sales rep,you need to know that those who have money in their pockets are not necessarily the decision makers,but merely act under orders,and it is the one behind their back that has the final say.Therefore,during the conversation with a customer,you can take a roundabout approach to ask if he or she is married or just in love,and speculate about who’s in control in that relationship from their description of their partner.If your customer doesn’t get the upper hand,you need to market a product from the point of pleasing the other party.For instance,if a male customer wants to buy a trolley case,you can take the chance to recommend a fashionable lady’s handbag to him,and if he is still in the first stages of a relationship,or in a honeymoon period,it’ll be pretty easy for you to sell the handbag to him.

Chatting about hobbies can help you locate an entry point for conversation.For example,if you pay a visit to your customer’s company and see some nutritional supplements on the table,it could mean that the customer prioritizes health,and using such a topic to break the ice may quickly arouse his or her interest and they may not be annoyed by your sales promotion as a result.Moreover,you can even link your product with health maintenance.By doing so,you can not only stimulate the customer’s interest to buy it,but also bridge the psychological gap between the two of you.

(FromMarketing Psychology:Marketing Strategies Leading You Straight to Your Customer’s Heart,Tianjin People’s Publishing House.Translation:Zhu Yaguang)