Cold Reading For Business
By Ian Rowland
*A Book Review*
by Michael C. Gray
© 2020 by Michael C. Gray
How can you establish rapport with a customer and make him or her feel understood?
In Cold Reading For Business, Ian Rowland shows how to use the techniques of cold reading to establish instant rapport.
Ian Rowland has demonstrated his cold reading skills on television talk shows. His subjects were impressed with his "psychic" abilities, which he says he doesn't have. (Rowland doesn't charge for his cold readings.) He also teaches seminars and does coaching to help others learn cold reading skills.
According to Rowland, the steps for cold readings are (1) define, (2) empathize, (3) state, and (4) advance.
In an introductory business conversation, such as a sales call, by finding out the job of the person you are speaking to and learning about the company by looking online, you can suggest common problems that apply to the person and company. When that person responds to your suggestion, you can refine your observations to be more accurate and project understanding the customer.
By going through this process, you can adjust your presentation to fit the prospective customer's situation and concerns.
Possibly even more valuable, is Section 2 of the book on Communication Skills.
The communication skills include things you would think would be common sense but are often missed in establishing new business relationships, for example:
- Eliciting a smile from the customer in the first ten seconds of your meeting;
- Giving sincere praise and appreciation;
- Being empathetic and giving compliments;
- Giving an ironic description of a situation; and
- Speculating about a role or function.
Additional things you can do is developing a positive mental script of how you want the meeting to go, being enthusiastic about your offering, encouraging the customer to do most of the talking, developing vocal variety, focusing on the customer's concerns, and using the customer's name and "you" instead of "I" or "we."
This is a short book of only 108 pages. Ian Rowland writes with an easy-to-read style and with warm British humor.
Establishing rapport is a very valuable skill to establish trust and reduce resistance for your offer while establishing a friendly, caring business relationship. Cold Reading For Business is a worthwhile investment for your business library.
Buy it on Amazon: Cold Reading For Business: How to apply cold reading psychology to business communications.
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