One of the most important thing in sales is being able to listen and ask questions. Where this can go wrong is when people go into a conversation with questions they are going to ask and unable to connect any of them in the conversation. In order to really engage with your customer, you must ask them questions based on their information they give you. This goes against the basis that the best salespeople are the ones that communicate the best. It is easy for anyone to just speak about themselves or their product, however this can give out too much information too quickly and scare away the customer. A recent study showed that in the average sales call the salesperson speaks 80% of the time. This happens a lot without the person even knowing because it is so easy for them to speak about themselves.
Active listening is harder than it sounds and takes a lot of practice. The art of asking a question and shutting up is very hard to do. Asking questions that relate to your customers needs and getting to know them helps them feel a sense of comfort and trust. Without that ability to ask good questions and relate to customers needs, then it is very difficult for the company to build good rapport and trust. Without trust in the particular industry it is more than likely the customers are not going to buy from you. Active listening helps build those solid relationships that develop trust. Even if that is just setting up a meeting or playing golf. If the salesperson focusses more on the relationship rather than selling the product than there will be more benefit. In todays world, there is a lot of empty, shallow friendships. This is why listening and hearing the other person helps to grow and find out about the other person.
BoweryJE22
David, Good post I like how you point out the importance of not just listening but showing that you are to the person you are talking to. Also, I find it interesting that sales people tend to talk 80% of the time as we are taught to only talk about 30% of the time as it allows the customer to talk more.
I think this post sums up well some of the most important parts of selling, and how traditional sales are still lacking in this area in many instances. If there is one thing that has certainly been emphasized as important while I’ve been learning about sales, its the importance of asking good questions, and then listening well. I think your post also explained well that it’s not just questions that are required to make a sale, but also actually listening to the answer your prospect gives.
This is so true! I think you encapsulate both the importance and the difficulty of answering questions with questions and listening to your customer. Great post.