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What do talking and listening have in common when it comes
to sales? The unusual link here is that most salespeople do too much of
one and not enough of another.
Research has consistently shown that the ability to listen
is, far and away, the most essential trait necessary for a successful,
productive face-to-face sales encounter. Even given that research and
documentation, why is it that so many salespeople still believe that
silver-tongued oratory is the secret to sales?
Maybe it was your grandmother who once told you have the
gift of gab, you should go into sales, or your first experience purchasing
something when you were entranced by the persuasive skill of an
articulate silver-tongued orator. At any rate, the real truth is that if
you do a lot more listening than you do talking you will be a lot better off.
Part of the dilemma is to decide what it is you need to be
listening to and listening for from your prospects. Let me give you ten
hints:
- Listen
for answers to intelligent, probing questions. This, of course, means
you need to know how to develop and ask questions that are meaningful,
relevant, targeted, structured and designed to help your prospect define how
you can help them.
- Listen
between the lines. What is your prospect saying and not saying?
- What
do they really mean? How do their answers help you understand them
better?
- Never
interrupt your prospect. Be willing to be interrupted, but never
interrupt, cut-off or otherwise curb whatever your prospect is saying.
- Focus
on what your prospect is saying. Don t focus on what they are going to
say. Worse yet, don t focus on what you re going to say next.
Listen to them.
- Record
what your prospect is saying. Ask for permission to take notes and
then, like a caring physician, write down their answers. This will
help you to focus better on what they are saying and will give you a
permanent record of the conversation.
- Paraphrase
what you believe you are hearing. Ask questions to verify with your
prospect that your impression and understanding
of what you think they are saying matches what they really mean.
- Ask
for clarification. Don t be afraid to ask questions like, What do you
mean by that? or Could you explain that for me? to be 100% sure you fully
understand what is being communicated.
- Offer
feedback. This will prove to you and to your prospect that you fully
understand what they are saying, what they mean and how it is intended.
- Listen
with your eyes, heart and ears. Be sure to listen for the tone, speed
and intent of your prospect s comments. Don t just listen for
information.
- Summarize
what you heard. Repeat back to the prospect your understanding of what
they told you in a capsulized form. Say something like, I understand
you are looking for something we have in stock, is either red or blue and
can be installed in two days. Then verify that your understanding is
correct before you ever begin to present any product or service.
There is very little doubt that effective listening lends
to effective sales. There is also very little doubt that if more
salespeople would simply learn this obvious truth that they would certainly sell
better, easier, more resistance-free and at greater margin.
The next time you make a purchase observe the salesperson
you encounter. How much talking do they do in comparison to listening?
How many questions do they ask you? How frustrated are you when you
aren’t even given the opportunity to tell them what you want, need or have to
resolve?
The next time you make a sales presentation observe
yourself. How much do you talk versus listen? How many questions do
you ask? How frustrated is your prospect? Perhaps the real question
is this: How successful was your presentation? Did you make or lose
the sale?
Here’s the bottom line. You can listen your way
into far more sales than you can talk yourself into...every time.
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