The Connection

The Third C is the Most Important

C – Selling

Many books have been written on how to connect with people. The book that started a wave of writing about human connection was How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie in 1936. His influence remains even today. Stephen Covey published a far deeper book on human connection in 1989 and if you haven’t read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, order it now.

V – Selling

This article series is about the three C’s of selling which are to first understand the Customer, then develop your Content based on the Customer, and finally to Connect. Connection is done Viscerally. Not a common word in most training programs on presentation skills, yet it is the cumulative decision the customer makes about you, the seller, based on the 3 V’s: Visual, Vocal and Verbal delivery. It’s the quiet V.

C + V = Win!

To succeed in a business presentation, you must deliver with congruency among all three channels (the V’s) of communication. This article can’t teach presentation skills. Instead, here are two tips for getting better at business presentations:

• Get a coach: Presentation skills training is available everywhere. A coach is different. A coach is typically 1-1 and can offer you feedback and then strategies and techniques for improvement on a personal level. In some cases, the sales manager can be the coach.
• Coach yourself: Every mobile phone today has a video camera, so use it to become your own coach. Present as if you’re in front of the customer and then play back the video. What is your visceral sense as you watch? What did you do that was powerful and where were you weak? You can do this same technique using the camera as if you’re doing a virtual call. Record yourself and then playback to evaluate your delivery and your setting.

More C’s

Learn more by reading the Carnegie and Covey books because Connection may be the most important C in sales. Even when your content is spot-on for the customer, if you don’t connect, you likely won’t move to the next step in the buyer cycle.