Another client encountered problems with "difficult" customers, to the extent that in one case, in an important negotiation, the senior customer representative got up and walked out. As in the previous example my client was a go-getter, a forceful character who had no time for people who could not accept his perfectly reasonable proposals. He was on transmit most of the time and paid little attention to listening. He recognised that something had to change to avoid future disastrous meetings.

Prior to his next critical customer meeting he conducted some research into the personality, likes, dislikes, career history, business style and affiliations of the senior decision maker. The forthcoming meeting was a one-shot, fail or succeed event, so the outcome was critical. The meeting was a greater success than he anticipated. Because of the way he was able to shape his proposal and hit all the decision maker's "hot buttons" he not only succeeded in the acceptance of his proposal, but other party became an advocate for my client's ideas within the customer's organisation.

The key point to remember from these examples is that attempts at influence are more likely to succeed if you first make the effort to understand the drivers and values of the people you want to influence. As the author of "7 Habits of Highly Effective People", Stephen Covey once said, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood".

Page 2 of 2 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 | Next