Remember who you're talking to

When meeting with a prospective customer, make your conversational tone one of respect. Suppose we carelessly utter to the prospect, "Do you know what I mean?" He or she just heard from us: "How could you possibly disagree?" A more respectful offering is, "I want to be sure I express this properly; so may I clarify?"

How about when the buyer poses the same question to us? Seize the opportunity to clarify the exchange of ideas by responding this way: Look into the buyer's eyes and state inquisitively, "No, I do not quite understand. Could you tell me more?" This may also persuade the customer to state his/her position in a way that might reveal critical motivations.