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SAVVY
SELLING - SEPTEMBER
14, 2006
Listen
Up for Better Sales
By Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
To
improve your selling, improve
your listening skills.
Effective salespeople
know that making a connection
and closing a sale depends on
listening just as much as speaking
Until recently, being called
a "smooth talker"
was a compliment to a salesperson
- but no more. Now, 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.
TAKE A ROUND-TRIP.
If you aren't doing round-trip
communicating, you may not know
it until it's too late. The
results often don't show up
until after a project is done,
whether it's creating a complex
proposal, or simply catching
up on daily tasks. The classic
clue is when your customers
tell you, "I know that's
what I said, but that's not
what I meant." Ouch. That's
why, even when you get the sales
order written up and signed,
it's a good idea for a quick
verbal review of what was agreed
upon—in terms of work,
quality, time, and money.
So how do you improve your
listening skills? The ultimate
in listening is what I call
"whole-body listening."
This goes far beyond using your
ears to hear what your customers
are telling you—it also
includes paying attention to
their sound and body language.
The sound components you should
be aware of include your customer's
tone, pitch, pace, murmurs and
grunts, pauses, intonation,
and energy.
To appreciate the impact of
the sound of your customer's
speaking, imagine the difference
between hearing them tell you
in person their feelings about
your offering and reading a
transcript of them describing
their feelings. The difference
is huge because communication
is so much more than just the
words that are spoken.
FACE TIME. This
phenomenon explains why selling
to your customers in person
is so much more effective than
selling to them on the phone—and
why selling by e-mail is least
effective. As you limit your
ability to gauge non-verbal
signals, you lose more and more
of the extra information you
need to really hear what your
customer is saying.
When it comes to evaluating
the content of selling conversations,
good listeners also consider
what customers don't say. For
example, after you quote your
price, shut up and wait for
them to say O.K., grunt, or
fall to the floor. If they don't
give you any feedback, ask,
"Is that O.K.?" and
then be quiet and still until
they answer you, verbally or
nonverbally. Even if they're
initially thinking no, it's
better to know this now, so
you can address the objection
and perhaps overcome it.
In addition, when customers
tell me how wonderful it would
be to use my services, I often
say, "Look at you—your
whole face is lit up."
This adds fuel to their fire.
They smile even more—and
feel even more passionate about
the picture in their mind of
what it would be like to buy
from me.
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!
Michelle Nichols is a professional
sales speaker and consultant
based in Reno, NV. She welcomes
your questions and comments.
You can visit her web site at
www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her direct line is (775) 303-8201
and her
toll-free number is (877) 352-9684.
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