Understand the customer and find the right opening
Sometimes you meet someone in person for the first time, though you've already spoken on the phone. Or you've known a customer for months, but their behaviour still puzzles you. Before you go into a conversation like this, look more closely at the person.
This isn't about facts on the status or the offer. It's about how the other person thinks: what drives them, what unsettles them, who else has a say, and what they respond to. If you can read a customer this way, you open the conversation differently and notice sooner when something doesn't fit.
Questions that help:
What do I know about their situation? Not just their needs, but what occupies them at the moment, at work or personally.
How have they decided so far? Quickly or hesitantly, alone or with others, by the numbers or by gut feeling.
What did they respond to last time? What convinced them, what held them back.
What would be a good opening? A sentence that shows you've understood them, not a ready-made sales pitch.
Every assessment remains an assumption. You test it in the conversation, not at your desk.
With Fioro
The Fioro coach shows what drives each decision-maker
Fioro remembers how every conversation with a customer went and who has a say in the decision. From meeting notes, files and what you've told the coach, it builds a picture: what drives the people involved, what they respond to and what the deal depends on. The coach suggests an opening that suits the person you're meeting and checks its view against your own impression.
Tell the coach what you know about the people involved, or upload notes and emails.
Choose “Create customer analysis” in the Customers module, or ask the coach in the chat for its view.
Talk through how you'll open the conversation, and test its observations against what you've experienced yourself.
Freddy
Your coach in Fioro
How do you read Mr Becker? How does he make decisions, and how should I approach him on Thursday?
Mr Becker needs certainty. Last time he praised the concept but hesitated over the monthly rate, and he mentioned a cheaper offer. So he compares carefully and doesn't decide on impulse.
On top of that, his daughter takes over the business next year. He probably thinks about how every investment will pay off in the long run.
On Thursday I would open with the handover: “What does the business need for the transition to go smoothly?” Does that match your impression of him?
Frequently asked questions
Why does it help to know who has a say in the decision before a meeting?
A deal often fails not because of the person you talk to but because of someone in the background whose concerns nobody addressed. The Fioro coach keeps notes on every person around a customer and shows you what matters to each of them.
How do I spot concerns a customer doesn't say out loud?
The clues are often in asides, in hesitation or in questions someone asks without giving the real reason. When you prepare a conversation, the Fioro coach puts likely objections in the customer's own words, so you are ready when they come up.
How can AI help me read a customer?
An AI that knows the history with a customer can sum up how they make decisions and what has convinced or held them back so far. The Fioro coach turns everything you've told it about a person into an assessment and suggests an opening that suits them.
From the Fioro Method
Put the person first
Chapter 3.1 · Read the chapter
About Fioro
Fioro is the AI coach for sales teams. You practise customer conversations in realistic roleplays and prepare real meetings with a coach that remembers every conversation.
