LISTEN to LEARN & sell MORE!

The greatest, common sales skill weakness is a Seller’s inability to LISTEN & DIGEST what a Customer is saying.

The Sales Consultant should never contribute more than 30% to any discussion with a Prospect / Customer.

The professional term is called “active listening”. That is the skill to be able to tune in one’s mind to hearing what the Customer is saying & outlining.

Active listening

Is the skill of being able to listen & remember, to what is being said & then responding in a thoughtful & professional manner. This develops trust & rapport with your Client, which produces a climate of trust & encourages them to buy from you. When you listen actively, you will satisfy the human need of wanting to be heard. Through active listening the Sales Professional is able to understand objections better, overcome initial resistance &close more deals.

Easy to say, of course! So what is required to develop such a skill ~

NEVER interrupt

When you listen actively, you may hear something you would like to comment on, but instead of interrupting write down your comment or question & let the Speaker continue talking until they are finished.

Create a gap

Before you respond, wait 2-3 seconds to make sure that the Speaker has finished what they wished to convey. This also allows you some to formulate your answer, to be able to provide an intelligent & well-formulated reply. It will also ensures you do not accidently interrupt their flow.

Listen, look & feel

Listen to the words & the manner they come across. Check for any underlying meanings & keep an eye on the Client’s body language. Body language communicates 80% of the message age a client is sending you.

The information you should be listening for:

• what is missing.
• concerns the Client may have & what is important to them.
• what they value.
• what are their real, spoken or otherwise needs, to enable them to fill in the gap between what they have now & what they seek.

When you have this information, you will be better positioned to offer your best product or service to your client.

Repeat what they have told you

Summarize & repeat what you heard back to the Client. This is called parroting. Try not to do it too much, but in summary. It is better to paraphrase what the client has said or even use your own words to express what you understand from what was said by the Client. This gives them the opportunity to correct you if you have misunderstood a point. It reflects to them that you are serious & genuinely wish to assist them.

Confirm and clarify

After you have repeated what was said by the Client, summarise as flows ~

• “have I got that right?”
• “Have I correctly understood your challenge / needs?”

If the reply “no” then you could follow up with asking them to explain more clearly what you didn’t understand.

Relevant follow-up questions

After you have paraphrased & clarified what your Client has said, to conclude the meeting, ask an open-ended follow-up question/s, to gain more information. This will give them the opportunity to share more about their wants & needs & objections. By getting your prospect to think critically aloud about their problem, they may come to the conclusion that the solution you are offering is what they need to succeed in their business.

By following these six points you will be well on your way to listening actively and winning more deals.

The value of learning this skill is paramount to becoming a Top-Level Sales Professional.

The BizGro Sales Skills Training Specialist Team can assist your Team develop & deliver this critical skill.

Contact us for a quotation ~ our sales training offers a full money back guarantee.