Anticipate customer objections and questions

In his book The Art of War, the ancient Chinese author and strategist Sun Tzu said, “If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” Apply this principle when communicating with customers. Try to anticipate the objections your customers will have to your message and address those objections. For example, suppose you are sending out a directive regarding the downloading and application of Windows updates. Suppose further that you have customers who know enough to be dangerous. Such a customer might think, “Well, I’m current in my virus definitions, so this update is unnecessary for me.” Your communications with such a customer will be more effective if you anticipate and address that issue. Consider, therefore, a sentence such as, “This Windows update is necessary even if your virus definitions are current.”