Tweet

The Importance of Listening in Selling

Written by: Colly Graham

Article Overview: The best salespeople were not necessarily the best talkers, they were the best listeners.

The Importance of Listening in Selling

The state of the art of selling didn't change much from the Industrial Revolution to the 1970s. But it has changed dramatically since then. A consultant named Neil Rackham, in his book Spin Selling, made the first step from art to science in selling. After observing thousands of sales calls, he came to an interesting and unexpected conclusion: The best salespeople were not necessarily the best talkers, they were the best listeners. They listened first and talked second; they discovered the need before presenting a solution. This was the birth of consultative selling. Rackham found that the best salespeople had a much higher listen-to-talk ratio and that they used the classic journalist queries - who, how, what, why, when, and where - to keep the client talking.

A talker, however, feels that he or she can simply explain a long list of features of a product and eventually hit upon something the client likes. Here it comes...feature, feature, feature..."Stop me if you see something you like." But these are features in search of problems. It's called "dashing to the demo," "shotgun selling," or "spray and pray."

In some cases, the cause of this tactic is pride in product functionality; in others, technical salespeople believe that if they just show how smart they are, Clients will buy - whether they need the product or not. Linking the features to the benefits and the benefits to the business problem is left to the buyer.

The benefits of high-value solutions that touch multiple departments with a multitude of technical capabilities of differing priorities aren't easily discernible to the buying organization. If you don't help make the links to the client's business problems, then your competitor might - and you'll be outsold.

Many evaluations are effectively over before the presentation begins. The salesperson has either established preference from a previous sale or has been effective in the needs-assessment phase of this sale. Even if you know what the client's problem is (called "selling to anticipated needs"), it doesn't matter. Admitting that there's a problem helps buyers open up and makes them more receptive to suggestions. In a single sales call, this means probing and listening before you present. In formal presentations, this means conducting a needs analysis or survey before a presentation. Again, the process is quite natural to consultants, where the solution is defined by the problem.

The discovery or needs-assessment process provides three essential benefits:
1. It helps you determine whether you have a match before you ever present a solution.
2. It prevents presumptive selling - i.e., "How dare you present a solution? You don't even understand my problem!" It builds a better rapport between seller and buyer, because it compels you to listen.
3. A sales call that's usually shorter yet more effective, because it's focused on the needs of the individuals and the organization. Moreover, you are no longer presenting to strangers. You speak the Clients' language about their issues because you "out cared" your competitors by "out listening" them.

Related Articles
  LEADERSHIP: ART & SKILL OF LISTENING
  LEADERSHIP : ART & SKILL OF LISTENING.
  Increasing the Velocity of Your Selling Cycle
  The Art of Heart-Listening
  LISTENING SKILLS IN COACHING

Article Tags: assessment phase, business problem, business problems, competitor, consultative selling, evaluations, industrial revolution, listeners, multitude, needs assessment, neil rackham, product functionality, salespeople, salesperson, shotgun, spin selling, talkers, technical capabilities, unexpected conclusion, value solutions



Related Forum Posts
Re: How do I find a direct mail list of potential customers - Hi WhyNot, Is it possible there are websites about the Federal Government. It needs to delve into it to find the key person. Listening for once to the news could pinpoint who is really in charge of this department. I wish you wisdom to connect with the right people. Nothing is too difficult, if you put your mind to it. Maybe some one else has a supportive idea.
Re: How to Get Over Your Fear of Failure, Make Every Second Coun - Hi Evan, I've just been listening to a couple of your MTM videos while packing parcels. I especially enjoyed this one on JKR. Listening to stuff like this while packing orders is one of my better ways of "making every second count!"
Re: Kevin's Case Study #10 - When to become an entrepreneur? - When the bug bite you. A lot of successful entrepreneurs started in their teens or at school. Selling sweets to fellow students or lemonade to firends in the neighbourhood.
Re: This is Marketing Warfare! - Hey GT, I guess this was from a while back, and it'll test your memory a bit but could you possibly elaborate on Unique Selling Proposition? Can you give us some examples of good USPs?
Blog pinging - Thanks Martin - yes, I do ping and it has been very effective. I'm currently on the first page of Google for Mastermind Group and on the second page for Selling to Small Business.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Executives and Elevators Perfecting That Pitch

SEO and the Entrepreneur

Tips for the Novice Traveler

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.