Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who seems like they are listening and letting you talk, yet when you stop talking they have nothing to say and it’s awkward? Where you feel like they were being quiet and respectful but weren’t listening? If makes you feel like that friend isn’t listening but rather waiting for you to shut up. If you haven’t, it sucks and it feels like they don’t care. This is what we want to avoid when we are in a sale. We need to pay attention to customers.
The same thing applies to sales. If you are “listening” to a potential customer but not paying attention, you WILL miss something important. You should be paying attention to what a customer is saying–or what they aren’t saying. If you don’t pay attention, you will miss the subtle clues to what a customer actually wants or needs.
On the other side, if you talk off a customer’s ear you don’t give them the opportunity to express their pain. Even worse, they will stop listening to you and tune out what you are saying. You can’t have all the power in the conversation if you want to sell; in fact, you will lose every sale successfully. You can’t “win” a sale if you assume anything. When you talk for 90% of the conversation, you make the 10% so minimal and pointless in a conversation.
TAKEAWAYS:
Listen to people, observe, and let a customer talk about their pains. Let people express their pain, but you have to be diligent. Pay attention and see if you can help solve that pain. The best thing one can do in a relationship–sales or not–is listen and pay attention. Listening and find the pain of a person will result in better success.
taylorjt23 
Bondre24 
wheelerne24
I think these ideas of how to be a good salesperson are good to practice in our daily lives in preparation for when we need to sell. We can use those awkward moments for preparation.
I completely agree that listening not only builds a relationship with the customer, but also helps you find their need so that you can help them or help them realize they may need to look elsewhere. We can use the silent moments to put others at ease, take ourselves out of a power position, and really tune in to what our customer needs.
I think being silent is powerful. While if there is too much silence, it is awkward. Having a balance between silence and talking and engaging is the most important thing to keep in mind when listening to someone talk about their pains and problems. Silent while letting them talk, but engaging when they have nothing else to say.