How can you improve your listening skills as a sustainability professional?

In today’s digital online world it can be more challenging to listen to your audience via a video call or even a phone call where you cannot see their face and body language. Picking up on what your audience is thinking and feeling can be challenging. With listening skills it’s easier to first talk in a clear, concise manner and tone that is easy to understand. Once this is achieved, your audience can be able to hear and understand what you are saying. It also depends on your topic you are talking about too. Not everyone will be listening to you. So by engaging with your audience and looking at different people can help too to gain more traction and more exposure to your content.

Listening with an open mind helps gain more confidence and control over your audience. In my experience being in B2B Sales selling technology and service solutions can be challenging. Firstly it’s not a tangible product that my prospects can touch and use, such as an iPhone mobile. In a 121 prospect meeting by asking the customer questions that are probing will help you to know the answers and pain points for that prospective customer. By asking the right questions at the right time will get the customer to talk more. In sales it should be the customer who is the one telling us about their business and its challenges.

By setting an Agenda before the meeting helps both parties know exactly is in store. Send the Agenda as soon as you have booked the appointment. If the meeting is via video call make sure you send them the invite link to log on. If the meeting is in person and you need to set up your laptop to a plasma, ask them prior to the meeting a few days before to check they have that. If not use your laptop only. This will help you be more organised and when you are in the meeting the questions you will ask the client will be in a more specific and structured way. This will showcase your presentation and will help you make sure that you are prepared and showing a sense of purpose. That you believe in your product / service you are pitching.

Empathy is the real estate of mind to enter the state of mind of the listener. What the listener wants to listen should be articulated loading the message a speaker wants to convey.

At the end of your sales meeting remember to ask if the customer or prospect has any questions. Get feedback too of your solution you are selling. It helps with product development for the future use too. One can use their feedback back to your company to help you and your team get better results.

Feedback is a great incentive for you pitching your solution and it helps the needs of the prospective client figure out what they truly want. Ask for feedback. Very few sales people ask for feedback. As soon as they wrap up a sales meeting for closure, they are excited and happy. Ask it is free of charge. Feedback helps you, your brand and your target audience.