Every Word Matters
Do we look in the right place, using the right methods, when we try to understand and change sales encounters? This session will show delegates – probably for the first time – what customer experience, customer journeys, and customer satisfaction actually look like in real sales conversation. I will argue that if we want to understand how such encounters work, there is little point in surveying people about them, simulating them, or running experiments about them. I will show that some of most accepted assumptions behind sales training are wrong. And I will show how conversation analysis enables us to identify what works and what is less effective when sales people talk to current and prospective clients.
Key take-outs:
– New insight into how to understand customer journeys and experience
– Evidence base for communication interventions
– How one word changes outcomes
Who is Elizabeth Stokoe?
Elizabeth Stokoe is Professor of Social Interaction in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University. She uses conversation analysis to understand how talk works – from first dates to medical communication and from sales encounters to hostage negotiation. She is a WIRED Innovation Fellows; has given TED, New Scientist, Google and Royal Institution lectures, and her research and biography were featured on the BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific.