Has anyone ever said to you “Do you see what I’m saying?” Stop for a moment and think about that phrase; does it even make sense? How can anyone SEE what you are SAYING? But when someone says that, you do in fact understand what they are trying to communicate. Have you ever wondered why people say things like that? And if you say that, have you ever wondered why you chose those words to test someone’s understanding?
As business leaders, you are expected to not only be great at your business, you are expected to innovate and communicate well with your teams and customers. What if you and your customers don’t speak the same language? How can you communicate effectively if your team can’t see what you're saying?
Over the next four weeks, you’ll learn four Proclivities with language patterns and indigenous traits. Today, we’ll begin with one of the most common proclivities:Visuals.
To recap, a Proclivity is the unconscious underlying system that we use to not only process the world but to communicate with ourselves and other people. As it is defined in the research, it is natural inclination or pattern of behavior. Visual people have to see it to believe it. They also can’t work in visually offensive environments. If you have an employee who is visual and they aren’t as productive as you’d like them to be, allow them to change their office location or decorations as and watch their productivity soar! If your client is visual don't call them up, go see them (or skype with them) and show them something. A picture is worth a thousand words and to a visual client, it's worth thousands of dollar. Visual people need pictures, maps, colors and beauty in order to see the value.
Understanding and effectively engaging your team’s proclivity has a direct impact on employee communication, job satisfaction and retention. Unhappy employees will not create happy customers, and the 2012 study from the Center for American Progress clearly revealed that customers are 2.6 times more likely to do business with companies they are happy with. Show them how to be happy with you!
How do you know if the people you are communicating with are visual or not? Visuals will always be sharply dressed and completely lost if they are in a meeting with no powerpoint or handouts. A great starting place in recognizing a visual proclivity is to pay attention to the words that they use when speaking in everyday conversation. Words like “see, look, view, appear, clear” are all examples of visual words. If you notice them using these words, change your language patterns to mimic theirs and your communication will automatically improve. Do you see what I’m saying now?
Communicating effectively is a core component of high performing teams. Teams that function as a seamless unit either all operate in the same proclivity or they’ve made adjustments to communicate in a common pattern. In my next post, we’ll cover another proclivity and address what you can do to continue to optimize employee and customer happiness, communication and retention.
Seanlai M. Cochrane is the CEO of Divirsus™, a multi-million dollar national provider of professional construction services. A professional speaker with the National Speakers Association Ms. Cochrane speaks to and consults with top business leaders, Fortune 500 companies and serial entrepreneurs. @SeanlaiC
