You see a glimmer in their eyes, a smile spreads across their cheeks and you hear the curiosity in their voice. No, we don’t mean THAT kind of intimacy.
The Seven Levels of Intimacy is a book written by Matthew Kelly. It redefines the relationships in our lives and can reveal much about ourselves.
It’s just as important to be intimate with your customers as it is to be intimate with other, special people in your life.
To build a deeper level of rapport with your customers, you need to go through these stages. How well do you reveal yourself? And how well do you get your customers to reveal themselves to you?
Here are the seven levels:
- Cliché – the most basic level of intimacy. Hey, how are you? I’m good thanks. Have a nice day.
- Facts – the level where there is no debate. Basically if it’s raining, you can’t say it’s sunny.
- Opinions – this is where most conflicts occur. Customers give opinions and you might not always agree. However, it’s good that they’re talking to you about their opinions and revealing a little about themselves.
- Hopes and dreams – this is the level where we accept differences. You can connect with customers. What do they want? What are your customer’s hope and dreams?
- Feelings – this is where customers are comfortable enough to share their feelings with you. Once you have reach this emotional level with your customer, a connection will be formed.
- Faults, fears and failures – Can you get your customers to share about these three Fs? Generally, it’s harder for men to get to this stage.
- Legitimate needs – the final level is getting to know the needs of your customers.
You’re not there to just sell a product or service. You are a human too. You cannot close a customer until you are on level seven. Opportunities will only come your way when you connect and be intimate with the people around you.
