Listen and Learn!
by Richard White
Whether developing business, negotiating,
or influencing our colleagues, most business owners
and executives are in the business of selling. There
are many myths associated with selling. One of the biggest
myths is that it takes the 'gift of the gab'
to succeed in sales. The reality is that being a good
listener is far more important than being a good talker.
There are plenty of training courses around covering
listening skills. Real listening, however, is hard to
learn as a skill. Attitude, rather than technique, is
the real driving force behind effective listening. Listening
is easy when someone is interested. The human body comes
with in-built listening capability as standard, both
to words and to body language. Why do we need to learn
what comes naturally?. You can learn techniques to give
the impression of listening but it will require a real
interest in the prospect and helping to satisfy their
needs to master effective listening.
It is hard to achieve a win-win solution
without knowing what the other party needs. When a sales
person is talking, they are not listening. This is true
whether the talking is out loud or where the talking
is going on in the sales person's head. Perhaps
they may be thinking what to say next or how to "steer"
the conversation towards the "close". Either way the
seller has the attention focused internally rather than
on the customer. The great bonus for sales people is
that listening will form good foundations for the relationship
and, by exploring the prospect's needs and listening
to the answers, bigger opportunities often arise.
The golden rule is to "do unto others
as you would have them do unto you". Adapted for selling
it is "sell unto others as you would like to be sold
to". I may be wrong, but I would guess that most people
would prefer to have a sales person take a real interest
in their needs and engage in a conversation to explore
how the product or service may be suitable rather than
being talked at.
Richard white is Managing Director of
sales coaching firm Pro Excellence Limited. Richard
can be contacted by telephone on 01428 651866 or by
email at rwhite@pro-excellence.com
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