|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |  |
|
Get Listening
Written by: Bob HazellArticle Overview: Ever heard the saying "He/she will make a good salesperson because he/she has got the gift of the gab"? Nothing is further from the truth. The best listensers are the best sales people.
 |
Free Download - Handling pricing and delay objections By Bob Hazell |
Get Listening
"I can only give you ten minutes"
Have you ever run up against that one? If you have you may well have run into difficulty.
Most sales people under time pressure tend to “pitch”. The trouble is that those that do so are more likely to turn the buyer “off” than “on”. Most people are well able to talk themselves into buying from us if we handle it right.
How many of us have ever visited a buyer to find “I haven’t got much time”? The answer is to allow the buyer to talk, that way the time pressure comes off. In fact we’ll find that they’ll say things like “Gosh, is that the time?”, but after about an hour we’ll have found out loads about their business. So how do we make this happen?
The key to this is to be a good listener, and to tease out more information. The more we find out about the buyer’s business, the more effectively we can match the needs. And anyway, if we “pitch” it will be perceived as pressure.
What do customers talk about? THEMselves, THEIR issues, THEIR needs, THEIR business! Now, it might seem strange to have to say this, but that is exactly why we must resist the temptation to talk about ourselves straight away. This can come later when we match our offering to EXACTLY what the client NEEDS.
So we start off by asking a few questions. To start off with these can be of a general nature to give an overview of the business. We must watch that we don’t ask too many of these. The customer gets fed up of answering general questions, and what they can do is expose the fact that we’ve not done too much research before making the call.
We need to move swiftly to questions that explore the nature of the challenges facing the client. “What would you say are the most important issues facing your department at the moment?” Exploring these could be as simple as “That’s very interesting. So what EFFECT does that have on the business?”
We have now moved to a set of questions that explore the impact on the business or department.
Finally we can ask questions about the gains that the customer wants from the change. And somewhere in the middle of all this we’ve got to find out what the customers buying criteria are, and how the buying process works.
Ever heard the saying ”He/she will make a good salesperson because he/she has got the gift of the gab”? Nothing is further from the truth.
Remember: - Two ears, and how many mouths?
The Art of Heart-Listening
LISTENING SKILLS IN COACHING
Parents Can Accelerate their Children's Ability to Learn
LEADERSHIP: ART & SKILL OF LISTENING
Improve Your Active Listening Skills
Article Tags: challenges, good listener, temptation, time pressure
|
About the Author: Bob Hazell RSS for Bob's articles - Visit Bob's website  Click here to visit Bob's website   Get going to get results Get Organised a really important sales tip Get Listening Selling in difficult market conditions In front of the customer selling facetoface |
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!"
Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
- 1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor's names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
2. Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you.
3. Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn't sell more widgets, but it shows us you are human.
4. Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you.
5. Share links to neat things in your community. ( wholefoods does this well).
6. Don't get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( jetblue gives travel tips.)
7. Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
8. Promote your employees outside-of-work stories. ( TheHomeDepot does it well.)
9. Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc.
10. Talk about non-business,
Re: Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
- [quote="evieparsons":2o69rd2a]1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor's names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
2. Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you.
3. Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn't sell more widgets, but it shows us you are human.
4. Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you.
5. Share links to neat things in your community. ( wholefoods does this well).
6. Don't get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( jetblue gives travel tips.)
7. Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
8. Promote your employees outside-of-work stories. ( TheHomeDepot does it well.)
9. Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc.
10. Talk about non-business,[/quote:2o69rd2a]
Hey thanks for these tips. Basically, help others in your market out and build relationships with people. Be someone who gives, not takes. I'll keep them in mind if I go back to social media marketing. I'm currently in the SEO phase of my 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.
by: 
MLM Businesses: What Is The Deciding Factor In Your Success In MLM
The Office Bully
Important "Lessons Learned” For Leaders, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach
Direct Sales Business Pursuit of Abundance
Never Give Up! The Power of Determination 
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
The Right Job - Part Five 'Compensation'
Reverse Mentoring
Basic Operating Question (BOQ) for Empowerment
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.