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Whether talking to a prospect or making a recommendation to an existing client, many advisors believe that the key to effective communication is what you say.
As important – and maybe more important – is your delivery. The most carefully crafted sentences won’t be persuasive if they’re not delivered confidently and with conviction.
We fall into bad habits – we mumble, speak too softly, come across as tentative or fail to make effective eye contact. Or we unconsciously use “conversation fillers” such as “like,” “um” or “you know” that can distract listeners and undermine effectiveness.
In other instances, our failure to communicate with confidence reflects reality – we aren’t really confident in what we’re saying and it shows. Perhaps we’re in tough markets and are making difficult suggestions. Maybe we’re talking to a client after previous recommendations haven’t worked out. Or it could be that we’re talking to an existing or prospective client that we don’t really connect with or are a bit intimidated by.
Seven steps to communicate with confidence
Here are some ways to build more conviction into how you communicate with existing and prospective clients:
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Increase awareness
The first step on the road to communicating with confidence is to understand how important this is. In many regards, delivering our message with a level of conviction is job one for effective communication.
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Be confident yourself
It’s hard to de confident in our delivery if we aren’t reasonably confident. Whether talking to a prospective client about your value or recommending that an existing client get cash off the sidelines, even being a bit tentative will undermine the power of your message. Without falling into the trap of perpetual avoidance of difficult conversations, you may need to spend more time laying out the facts to raise your own confidence level.
