Active listening is a two part process that builds trust in your prospects, customers or clients and helps them to become more focused and candid in their response to your questions. The following list outlines the activities that make up active listening skills.
Phase I
• Give solid dominant eye contact (right eye) when your customer is speaking.
• Murmur a lot and nod your head to let prospects “hear and see” that you are listening.
• Ask the customer to clarify a point that is not understood or is of further interest.
Phase II
• Paraphrase back what you have heard your customer say
(NOTE: paraphrasing doesn’t mean you agree with what is said, it just lets your prospects know you heard what was said.)
• State your impressions or feelings from what has been said.
In one of the laboratories in Washington, D.C., there is a great magnifying glass that measures over three feet across. It's like the “sun glasses” we used to treasure when we were young. This great glass gathers the rays of the sun and then focuses them to a single point in space a few feet below. That single spot is so hot that it can melt through a steel plate as easily as a red-hot needle burns through paper. The terrific heat cannot be measured because it melts all instruments. It is just three feet of ordinary sunshine concentrated on a single point. Scattered, these rays are hardly felt, perhaps just pleasantly warm; concentrated, they can melt the strongest of all metals.
This magnifying glass is an example of the power of focused concentration. It also suggests to the serious sales professional a way to achieve the sales and cross-sales success you are seeking. If you want to improve any skill, including vital questioning and listening skills, you need the power of focused concentration to help you improve these important selling activities.
Improvement is almost assured when you focus on an activity for a period of time. By making a skill a priority and then setting aside some time to practice the technique each day, slowly you will burn the concept into your subconscious mind until you can perform it without even thinking about it (unconscious competence). Researchers tell us that it takes approximately 21 days to make or break a habit. Therefore, if you focus for about three weeks on your questioning and listening skills, you should be well on your way to developing some important and effective selling techniques.
Why not try focusing on your questioning or listening skills over the next three weeks. Set aside some time each day and then use some of the following activities to help you concentrate on improving your ability to learn more about your prospects, customers or clients.
1. Write down a series of questions that could help you better execute a sales transaction. Place them in a notebook, on cards, or in your day planner for easy reference. If you are at a loss for words, glance down at these questions to put the sales process back on track.
2. In each sales transaction, consciously record the number of times you respond to a prospect’s question without first redirecting the question to learn more about your prospect's needs and mind set.
3. Practice questioning techniques on your family and friends. Consciously make an effort to improve your listening skills by practicing your questioning skills.
4. Ask co-workers to role-play with you so you can put into practice the questioning and listening techniques discussed in this training.
5. Using the list of questions you have prepared, role-play in your mind how they might be used with a variety of customers. Think of customers that you have dealt with in the past and apply these principles with 20/20 hindsight. By examining what you could have said, follow this new script to its logical conclusion inside your mind. What better place is there for you to practice perfection than in your own imagination?
Active Listening Produces Sales Success - To learn more about this author, visit Virden Thornton's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales success or one of the many who have failed to change? So what are you doing to change those results? Let’s be honest, with companies moving globally and at lightening speeds, the traditional business solutions are outdated and dead. My approach moves your business out of its comfort zone and secures your competitive advantage now. If you are seeking to increase sales, build customer loyalty, create a culture of great attitudes or just achieve some sleep filled nights, then we should talk because my clients have experienced exactly those types of results. Learn more about customer loyalty at http://www.processspecialist.com/customer-loyalty.htm Give me a call at 219.759.5601 for a free strategy session. P.S. If you are seeking a motivational speaker, sales trainer or small business expert that will leave your audience smiling and remembering, please feel free to contact me at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland Smith's Website |
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Virden Thornton
(Visit Virden's Website)
VIRDEN J. THORNTON is the founder and
President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a 23
year old firm specializing in sales,
customer relations, personal coaching and
management training and development.
Clients have included Sears Optical,
Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touché,
Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to
name a few. Virden is the author of
Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success,
Organizing For Sales Success, 101 Sales
Management Myths, A Realtor's Success
Formula, and two best sellers 101 Sales
Myths and Building & Closing The Sale. He
also has a video/audio tape training
program entitled Close That Sale,
published by Thompson Learning. He has
also authored a Self-Directed Learning
series of sales, coaching & team
development, telemarketing and personal
productivity training guides. To obtain a
substantial discount on two of Virden's
new manuals, 101 Sales Myths and
Organizing For Sales Success, just go to
www.TheSellingEdge.com/book1.htm
Note: You can contact Virden at vi
rden@TheSellingEdge.com. You can also
see an expanded biography at: www.TheSellingEdge.com/bio.htm
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