By
Simon Hazeldine
Recently I was conducting a group virtual follow up call with a group of participants from a recent seminar I ran in Switzerland.
I frequently schedule such virtual follow up sessions after seminars as it reinforces learning and application which leads to the required behavioral change being made. I had asked the participants to share the progress they had made with their action plans and the successes they had achieved as a result.
One participant’s response reminded me that sometimes it is the fundamental basic principles that when applied consistently lead to success. To be successful we have to become brilliant at the basics.
The participant in question was very enthusiastic about the positive differences that summarizing more frequently had made in her interactions with external customers and the internal colleagues that she relied on to deliver customer projects to the required timescale, cost and quality.
Summarizing (a brief statement of what has been discussed and / or agreed) is a simple but powerful principle that maximizes our ability to persuade, negotiate and communicate more effectively.
Persuasion
When attempting to persuade someone to take some action or to buy something, it is very important to ask good questions to understand their needs and wants and then demonstrate how the action that we are proposing will help them to achieve these.
Good listening needs to accompany good questions and summarizing actively demonstrated that you have been listening and that you understand correctly. In addition, if you summarize accurately and get the other person to confirm you are correct then this will also help to put them into an agreeable mind-set.
Negotiation
Research into negotiation behavior shows that summarizing is one of the most frequently demonstrated behavior by effective negotiators. Summarizing in negotiation helps to clarify understanding and it can also give a sense of progress.
In mountain climbing, a piton is a metal spike that is driven into a crack or seam in the climbing surface with a climbing hammer, and which acts as an anchor to either protect the climber against the consequences of a fall or to assist with progressing the climb to the summit.
When negotiating summarizing achieves a similar purpose. A series of regular summaries will assist with bringing the negotiation to a successful conclusion (reaching “the summit” of the negotiation) by anchoring progress made and also to protect progress made. Should an argument or dispute break out during the negotiation you can “retreat” back to your last summary and re-summarize what has been agreed and the progress made so far. This should prevent the whole negotiation becoming unraveled!
Communication
Summarizing what has been agreed or summarizing to check for mutual understanding makes a powerful contribution to effective communication. It is particularly important in lean modes of communication (telephone, virtual communication, email etc) as important social cues that aid communication are missing which increases the likelihood of misunderstanding.
So, a simple technique but one that makes such a powerful contribution to our persuasion, negotiation and communication success.
I would like to leave you with one thought…..if in doubt… summarize!
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About the author
Simon Hazeldine works internationally as a revenue growth and sales performance speaker, consultant, and coach. He empowers his clients to get more sales, more often with more margin.
He has spoken in over thirty countries and his client list includes some of the world’s largest and most successful companies.
Simon has a master’s degree in psychology, is the bestselling author of ten books that have been endorsed by a host of business leaders including multi-billionaire business legend Michael Dell and is co-founder of leading sales podcast “The Sales Chat Show”.
He is the creator of the neuroscience based “Brain Friendly Selling”® methodology.
Simon Hazeldine’s books:
- Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success
- Bare Knuckle Selling
- Bare Knuckle Negotiating
- Bare Knuckle Customer Service
- The Inner Winner
- How To Lead Your Sales Team – Virtually and in Person
- Virtual Selling Success
- How To Manage Your People’s Performance
- How To Create Effective Employee Development Plans
- Virtual Negotiation Success
