The Importance of Listening in Selling
The Importance of Listening in Selling
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.
The Importance of Listening in Selling - To learn more about this author, visit Colly Graham's Website.
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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.
The Importance of Listening in Selling - To learn more about this author, visit Colly Graham's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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Colly Graham Video - Colly Graham discusses Creating Customers on the Telephone -The importance of the telephone in selling is now well documented. This training DVD focuses on getting in front of more prospects by teaching the skill of telephone appointment setting. The workshop demonstrates the connection between daily activities, the sales cycle, and the number of sales necessary for a consistent flow of qualified appointments. Based on practical skills that get results fill your diary with qualified appointments.
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