The art of conversation and connection with other people is valuable!
I was in a training session yesterday talking about “the greeting” in a sales process. And during the conversation, it came around to a few topics. The topics of actual real connection with another human being. And the art of having a conversation.
A commodity is defined as something of value. Such as time. Both conversations and real connections take a time investment!
Actually what the topic came around to was how to sell millennials.
How is it possible? Just google that topic – it is crazy that there are so many pieces of training, topics, tips, webinars on how to sell to the millennial generation.
Have we lost it that badly? This generation is just like any other generation when it comes to connecting with other people. Look people in the eye, show them you care about them, make a real connection and then help navigate the process with them.
I am still a believer that one of the best ways to sell anything is to first connect and sell yourself, make a friend. And to do that, you have speak to other people. And many people don’t do that anymore. We have online acquaintances and Facebook friends, and we send texts. If we’re really heavy into needing knowledge, maybe an email is necessary.
Think about it, when was the last time that you sat down for an entire hour with another human being, a real person and didn’t have your handy-dandy communication device right there by your side?
Conversation is how you made friends as a kid. It is how you decided you liked your spouse enough to date her or him. Then, through ongoing and every day, late night talks about nothing, you because of friends and decided you wanted to spend more time together.
So going back here for a few minutes, the art of talking to someone and showing a genuine interest, asking and answering questions. It’s how humans connect, once they are connected and like each other then you develop a trust. The sale then, whether it’s the person or a product – it just happens.
So I challenge you this next week. Re-date your spouse. Drop everything and spend an uninterrupted hour with your kids. Call up someone you haven’t seen in a while and go to lunch. But, remove all of the online distractions. If you have to connect by phone, then shut out all the other distractions and reconnect with someone.
In closing, conversation, real conversation and one on one connection seem to be getting rarer, so they really are becoming a commodity.
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