The best way to listen is to do it actively. You have to really understand what your clients are saying. For a lot of customers it is hard to say exactly what they mean because there not sure what they want. Your job is to figure it out. A great tool to do so is to actively listen. Here’s an example: I needed to purchase storm shutters so I had two different salespeople come to my house. The first one that came over would ask a question, I would answer the question, and then she would talk for a while. She would keep doing this because the questions she asked did not push the right buttons, she didn’t build a bond with me. Her language was different then mine. When she asked me “Is this color alright?” I wasn’t hearing, “Do you want this color on your house?” I was hearing, “Do you think this color is alright?” There wasn’t a lot of clarity between us and she couldn’t give me exactly what I wanted. The second salesperson that came to my house was very clear. I pointed out a type of shutter I liked and he told me that the home owners may not even allow me to have this color, and then I asked him, “What if I could paint them to match the house?” He came back and said, “So you’re saying you would want to get these vinyl shutters even if we had to paint them to go along with the home owners, is that right? That gave me an opportunity to say yes and him the opportunity to fully understand what I wanted. What he was doing was actively listening to what I was saying. Prodding to get me to tell him exactly what I wanted. By doing this he built a bond with me. It wasn’t always comfortable with him pushing me with these questions but he knows his purpose is to help me get what I want. He pushed me no matter how uncomfortable it was until I told him exactly what I wanted. He made sure that he understood exactly what I was telling him. He had the right idea by doing this rather then guessing at it. You have to think of your self as a researcher. You have to pin point every little detail on what your client is telling you. You can get right down to what’s important to that person. This is how you have to be if you want to get on top, earn respect, trust and ultimately the sale from your customer. Go Get ‘Em!
Richard Cannon, The TeleSales Recruiter started selling candy in school when he was 8 years old.
He’s been selling ever since. In his 30’s he was looking for a sales job he could do from home that was in line with his purpose.
He looked and looked and couldn’t find the right one. He swore some day he would make it easier for people to find great sales jobs they can do from home.
He built a crew of work from home people, but couldn’t help everyone because they were not all passionate about what he was selling.
So now, he assist’s salespeople in figuring out what their purpose is. Then he finds them an opportunity that is in line with that purpose.
Now they make more money selling something they love. For more information, visit Cannon’s site at http://www.telesalesrecruiter.com
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