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Approaching Customers
How you approach your customers will directly result
in a sale, or not for that matter!
In these situations the ability to say what you mean and
remain unambiguous is extremely important; often using the wrong
words can mislead or lack clarity; customers may not get the
answers they require and consequently the sale does not happen. In certain circumstances
customers may never return simply as a result of a
misunderstanding and shear lack of oral communication.
Approaching you staff
Good oral skills are also a priority to enable you to
motivate and guide staff. Effective communication can result
in increased productivity and respect for your demands. Inability to transmit a
clear concise instruction could lead to a catalogue of errors and
low productivity or staff dissatisfaction.
Approaching people from other cultures
Communication with other cultures should also be
given considerable consideration particularly if we are looking to
move into the export market: physical contact, non-verbal
communication and simple gestures can have separate means or
tolerances across the globe.
Close physical contact and cheek kissing, for example, is
quite acceptable with many European countries, but the British
have a low tolerance to such close physical contact and prefer to
shake hands with people they are not too familiar with. |
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Non-verbal communication can have quite an impact on many
cultures. Vigorous hand
movements or over expression to make a point could therefore restrict
communication and prevent the message getting across simply due to the
distracting nature of the use of non-verbal communication. Prolonged eye contact when
greeting the Chinese for the first time is a mark of disrespect, and so
this could indirectly lose business, and would be have a marked impact on
the image of our business.
It is therefore important to examine the cultural or
traditional expectations of all our customers to ensure we are seen to
respect them and their culture. The
products and the way they are marketed should also be considered in this
light.
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