People Skills – The Competitive Advantage in Today’s Economy
Your success has more to do with your people skills than your technical expertise. Of course, it’s a good idea to have both. But in today’s new reality, it’s your people skills that set you apart.
These are the skills that enhance your connection with your existing clients, because you demonstrate empathy for the pain they may be experiencing as they make the mental and emotional transition to their new economic reality. These are the skills that allow you to communicate your advice so it’s acted on. It’s your people skills that help you help your clients adjust their goals or their time horizons. These are the skills that help you engage people in a way that increases the chance that they’ll become your next ideal clients.
How do you develop your people skills if you’re new to the business, or polish them up if you’ve allowed them to get a bit rusty? Here are 3 key things:
1. Ask good questions.
2. Listen with empathy.
3. And when it’s your turn to talk, be able to articulate your ideas and your advice with conviction so your
clients and your prospects respond positively.
Bill Bachrach, as appearing in www.horsesmouth.com 7/31/09
Editorial Note: “Your success has more to do with your people skills than your technical expertise.” It took me many years of experience to learn this truth. –Nancy Lininger, The Consortium
This was excerpted from Nancy Lininger’s Compliance E-News™, published by The Consortium® (Aug. 29, 2009)
