Word Of the Week #60: Personalize

May 12, 2009 by  

Personalize — to direct or adjust to the individual.

Have you ever had an experience with a sales person that left you feeling as though they really knew you? That they fully understood your needs?

So often it is the other way around. When you put your attention on, and listen to your guests, customers and members needs, you can personalize your communication with them. For example, you make suggestions based on their needs, not yours.

I am in the process of buying a new home. I created a list of all the things that were important to me and gave it to my realtor. When houses come up for sale, she will go look first and if it fits my criteria, she will set up a time for me to go look.

If it’s not a fit, she doesn’t waste my time. She has spent the last ten months showing me houses, knowing full well I was not buying until I sold my house. Not only is she patient, she is persistent as well. And those qualities are part of why we have developed a very personal relationship.

Her first priority was not to try and sell me a house in a week. It wasn’t going to happen! She spent the time to listen and she has never tried to sell me a house just because she liked it. That would be kind of like trying to sell a vegetarian the steak special. It’ll never happen! This week focus on directing and adjusting your presentations to fit the different individuals you are serving.

Reader Responses

“Personalizing and trying to find that right fit for a customer makes for a good salesperson. The key is LISTENING. If the salesman or saleswoman is listening to what it is I want, he or she will be able to find exactly what I need. That shows the salespeople know their merchandise and what they have. If they don’t have it, they should be able to honestly say, “We don’t have it now, but we can SPECIAL ORDER it for you.” When that happens, it makes the shopping experience that much more personalized. But if we wind up with salespeople who really don’t care, or are just there to draw a paycheck, then there won’t be any positive interaction. Once again, relationships are what are important, even in this environment. As you know, Susan, there are a lot of people in business who just don’t care. That is too bad, because the opportunities for greatness lie in how we treat others. Those who can see the unseen are those who succeed. We just have to turn around the attitude. Instead of saying that nothing is impossible, why don’t we say, impossible is NOTHING!” — Joe Moran

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