Listen Up for Better Sales By Sarah Miller
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From BusinessWeek: "Effective salespeople know that making a connection and closing a sale depends on listening just as much as speaking. Customers don't just want to be talked to—they also want their responses to be heard. Salespeople are mistaken if they believe that if they just talk long enough, the customer will eventually see their brilliance, put all their objections aside, and sign on the dotted line. That just doesn't happen anymore—customers are too demanding and too educated. Although speaking clearly, succinctly, and persuasively are crucial selling skills, sharp listening skills are equally important today. In fact, it's the professionals who ask good questions and then listen hard for the answers who are closing more sales than peers who are stuck in the "smooth talker" era.
SILENCE IS GOLDEN - Common sense would dictate that if you want to become a better seller, you should spend half your time developing your sales speaking skills—and the other half improving your sales listening skills. But it's rare for most sales training courses or books to devote even a section or a chapter on essential listening skills. Of course, I have to laugh at myself because in the last five years of writing this Savvy Selling column for BusinessWeek.com, I've written about listening only once before—back in 2003 (see BusinessWeek.com, 2/21/03, "When Silence Is Eloquent").
Unfortunately, too many sales people still see selling as a one-way communication. Instead, it should be a truly round-trip experience, with opportunity for both parties to interact and connect. It's much more effective when sales calls are a continuous process of sales professionals presenting their ideas and questions to their customers, with the customers responding. When both parties listen as well as talk—ahhhh…that's great selling.
PAY ATTENTION - How do you know that you're not really listening to your customers? Let me count the ways. Perhaps you're guilty of finishing their sentences. Maybe when they're speaking you let your mind drift, look around the room, or shuffle papers when they talk for too long. Maybe instead of paying attention you focus on what you will say next. If they speak too quickly or use words or acronyms you don't understand, do you stay quiet and just listen for what you do understand?
If you're guilty of any of the above poor listening sins, stop. If you don't pay attention to your customers when they're speaking, they will have to repeat themselves, or they may just clam up. They will also probably speak in a frustrated and testy tone of voice. If your customers don't feel listened to, you will end up missing selling opportunities. They will rarely return to buy from you again, and won't refer their friends and family to you.
To paraphrase one of Neil Sedaka's hit songs, shutting up is hard to do, because most of us love the sound of our own voices. However, listening is a valuable connecting and selling skill. It goes beyond good manners. I've found that if you'll give your customers the courtesy of listening to them, they'll often give you the courtesy of buying from you. Happy selling!"
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