By CONNIE DIEKEN

Have you noticed that people aren't listening to you the way they used to? They now expect you to get to your point, pronto, or else they'll tune you out.

Our fast-paced, electronic society has raised the bar on interpersonal communication skills. It's now critical to communicate faster and smarter than you did a few years ago.

If your communication skills are sluggish or lackluster, you risk losing clients and prospects to competitors. To move people to action, you must now deliver a swift, convincing case that your product or service is clearly the best choice.

Here are five strategies to sharpen your communication skills before it's too late:

· Articulate your unique value. If you can't clearly communicate the difference between your product or service and your competitor's, then customers will buy solely on price.

You won't convince customers just by saying you're "different." Stress your true competitive advantage. Articulate exactly what it is that makes you a better choice. Learn what makes your product or service superior from the customer's viewpoint and pitch that unique value.

· Create chemistry by shifting your focus. Don't aim for a phony instant friendship. Shift your genuine focus to the buyer and start thinking from the outside in. Listen more than you talk. Find out what the customer likes, what they don't like, and what they value. Become a peer, not just a vendor.

You can rise above today's product parity by building solid relationships to connect with customers on their terms. Have you noticed that when a strong salesperson leaves one company to join another, their customers go with them? That's often the result of peer level perception: they created chemistry by focusing on the customer's needs.

· Develop an arsenal of sound bites. If you want to move people to action, take a page from a broadcaster's book: Use targeted talk. Sound bites are quick snippets of information designed to convey brief, clear messages. They'll catch your listener's attention, boost their recall rate and move them from passive to active.

To begin building your arsenal, identify three of your client's problems then craft three sound bites describing how you can solve each problem. Pare each message down to a sentence or two. Be ruthless with your word count. Strip away redundant details to make your sound bites powerful, persuasive and memorable.

· Unclutter your messages. Address one issue at a time. Don't bombard people with a host of issues and messages. Identify the most important point and clearly finish that point before you move onto the next one. (Confirm that your customer is ready to shift to the next point, too.)

Prepare bulleted notes to realign your points and ensure they're crystal clear. Resist the urge to steer off course on a tangent: Veering off on an extraneous issue has ruined many a good meeting. If you do jump off the subject, make it temporary and return to the issue at hand.

· Boost your energy level. Do people's minds sometimes wander as they "listen" to you? More than likely, your energy level is inadvertently too low. You're dull. Want proof that you lack liveliness? Tape-record your voice. You won't believe how boring your voice sounds to the human ear. That's because inside your head, your bones are reverberating, making your voice seem stronger and more energetic.

To counteract dullness, try this: Think of your energy level as an elevator. Your natural energy level is the ground floor. When it's time to persuade, ride the elevator up to the second floor, at least. Add more inflection. Vary your pace. Gesture. Smile. Do whatever it takes to boost your energy level. It's vital to convey passion for your business. If you're not keyed up, why should a customer get excited?

Many people fail because they communicate backwards. They're focused on what they say, not on how their messages are received. The people who practice these five communication strategies will enjoy a competitive advantage — they'll sharpen their skills, get their points across and start moving people to action. Isn't that your objective?

(Connie Dieken is the founder and president of Communicate like a Pro and a former TV news anchor and journalist. 440-930-8500 or connie@communicatelikeapro.com.)