To produce exceptional sales results, salespeople must be effective communicators. However, salespeople tend to do more talking than listening. In a typical 60-minute sales call, a salesperson spends 30 minutes talking about products or services, 9 minutes asking questions ,and 12 minutes letting the customer speak. Clearly, not enough time is spent asking questions and listening to customers - the only way salespeople can learn what it will take to quickly close the sale.
So, how can you improve your sales results?
Listen to Understand, not Reply - Give your prospects and customers time to express their needs priorities and desires. Avoid interrupting or suggesting solutions until you hear them out.
Make Eye Contact - If you are taking notes during the sales call, glance up at customers frequently to show them you are interested in what they have to say.
Repeat Important Points - Summarize key points to insure you have understood them correctly and to show them how well you listened.
Listen Actively - To process everything customers say, keep your brain engaged. Think about how their needs match your product.
Ask Open Questions - Open questions, which elicit more than just a "yes" or "no" answer, encourage your customers to give you more information.
Listening is the key to sales success.
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Remember, you have two ears and one mouth - so use them in that ratio!
Listening Pays !!! - To learn more about this author, visit Craig Arnoff's Website.
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Craig Arnoff
(Visit Craig's Website)
Craig Arnoff holds Bachelor and Master's
degrees in Marketing, Finance and Business
Management. He is the author of
Cooperative Selling™ and Cooperative
Telephone Selling™, and has conducted
workshops for over 10,000 sales and
telesales professionals in the technology
and services industries. The firm, which
has been in business for 16 years,
specializes in helping clients boost sales
results via sales training, sales
management, coaching and consulting
programs.
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