Listen, Learn, Understand, Increase Sales
Ask any sales professional, sales manager, entrepreneur, or purchaser of b2b products and services to list the most critical sales skills. Great listening skill will always be one of the first few on their list. Ironically, your average sales professional is not a better listener than non-sales professionals. In fact, most sales roles are filled by people perceived to have that natural "sales personality." In other words, they are outgoing, aggressive, and comfortable TALKING to people.
Four Levels of Listening in Sales
There are four levels of listening in sales. The first level is Not Listening. One example of not listening takes place when networking. The sales person is not really listening to you talk because they are just waiting for their turn. They are waiting for the "so tell me about your company" inquiry and thinking about what they will say.
Not Listening also takes place when a sales person asks a few probing questions to loosen a prospect up before making their product or service pitch.
The next level is Springboard Listening. This often begins with several probing questions seemingly asked "to learn about your business." However, the sales person is listening for a need, an issue, or concern to use as a springboard launching the salesperson into a monologue about how their product or service can meet your need or solve your problem.
The third level of listening is Listening to Respond. This is much like springboard listening but with added "active" or "reflective" listening skills and it used when responding to concerns and handling objections. The very popular "feel, felt, found" technique falls into this category.
"I understand how you feel. Several of my clients felt the same way at first. And then they found that ..."
This is skill based listening truncated from true caring or empathy and is done with the intent to reply and move closer to closing the sale.
Although the intent of most sales professionals is to act with the best interests of their prospects and clients in mind. However, these first three levels of listening are behaviors not congruent with that intent because they are focused on making the sale.
Fourth Level--Listening to Understand
The intent of Listening to Understand is to figure out if, and how you can help your client succeed from their subjective point of view (rather then yours).
Listening to Understand means trying to understand their frame of reference. In other words, trying to see their business, their issues, and their concerns through their eyes.
Listening to Understand means employing your left and your right brain. Only about 10 percent of our communication is represented through words. Most communication is through other sounds and body language. Therefore, Listening to Understand is more than understanding words. Listen to the words, but also listen for feeling, meaning, and behavior.
Great things happen when a sales person Listens to Understand. they become more transparent. They earn client's trust faster. Their client's open up more and the business relationship becomes a collaborative exploration allowing the sales person to serve their clients better.
Do you have client relationships at this level? Did Listening to Understand make a difference?
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