3 Easy Tips To Remember Your Client’s Name

It’s terrible when you can’t remember someone but when it’s with a client’s name it’s not only embarrassing it can cost you a sale.  These are some of the ways to help you remember a name.

TOP 3 TIPS TO HELP REMEMBER CLIENT NAMES AND LEAD TO MORE SALES

Your potential clients are busy, busy, busy.

Like you, they have so many distractions and noise competing for their attention all the time. But there is one word, considered the most important word to use in sales to get a person’s attention!

It’s their name! Sounds simple, right? But so many entrepreneurs forget to use people’s names.

I’m here to tell you, you MUST ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, use your client’s name.

BUSINESS CUSTOMER ETIQUETTE 101 – YOUR CLIENT’S NAME

Why is using a person’s name so important to your business?

Because it’s the quickest way to build rapport and with customer time so limited, it’s the most effective way to start that relationship and build the trust that’s so crucial to sales.

I’m personally terrible with names, so here’s my super simple tip. When entering a potential sales conversation, always have a pen and paper! Write down your client’s name – that’s number one. Number two is to use their name frequently.

Using a person’s name lets them know you are listening to them and that you want to help them. “Honey” and “Sweetie” or “Dear” does not build trust!

And it’s actually quite condescending to many people and here’s why: “Dear, I have the perfect solution for you!” or “Kelly, I have the perfect solution for you!”

If you’re Kelly, who are you most likely to do business with? “Kelly, I have a solution for you!” is personal, connecting, direct. It shows you care. “Dear, I have the perfect solution for you” is generic, salesy sounds like something you’ve told everyone.

Using a person’s name creates a familiarity, a relationship – and brings your closer to building trust. And trust brings you closer to nailing the sale! It’s more business like, professional and once again, evokes the feeling of confidence, efficiency, and personal service from you. It shows you care enough to know their name and helps make a more emotional connection with that person.

If a customer has a difficult name to pronounce. Ask them once or twice to repeat their name, and if you still can’t get it (correctly), ask the customer if it’s okay to call them by another name, such as their first name shortened or a nickname. Chances are that if someone has a difficult name, they have an easier way to pronounce it or an alternative that other people use for them.

As I’ve said, I’m terrible at remembering names, so I do a few cheat-cheats that I’m going to share with you.

3 TIPS TO REMEMBER A CLIENT’S NAME

TIP 1:  Rule of 3’s

Train yourself to say their name at least 3 times immediately after meeting them. “Hi Robin, wonderful to meet you.” “So Robin, what can I do to help you? And “Ok Robin, this is how I can help you.”

TIP 2:  Focused Attention

It takes about 8 seconds of solid focus to plant a name in your memory, so take the time and use your senses. Shake their hand or touch their arm when speaking.
As soon as the conversation is over, type their name in your phone or write it on the back of their business card – yes, their name is already printed but the act of writing their name, with a quickly added observation, like “Robin, Italy vacation” will help you recall the person and also the conversation.

TIP 3:  Coupled Oddity

Try pairing people together! When you meet Robin, picture her with your cousin Robin riding a motorcycle together with cheese hats on their heads! The unusual act will stay with you and remembering your cousin Robin automatically gives you the other person’s name.

HERE’S SOME HOMEWORK

As you go about your days this week, work and personal, running errands and making phone calls, find out a person’s name and use it at least three times during your conversation. By the end of the week, you will have at least twelve interactions where you’ve learned and used someone’s first name!

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