Closing techniques, presentation and understanding your customer is based on how well you can listen. Being able to actively listen can improve your sales skills. Unfortunately, listening is not a skill that is well developed by most salespeople.
The ability to actively listen takes focus, concentration, patience and interpreting your customer’s ideas correctly. Interpreting nonverbal communication such as body language is also important. Good listening skills require emotional and intellectual effort which can only be acquired through practice.
Miscommunication damages and deteriorates relationships. Being a good listener allows you to improve the quality of your relationship with customers, friends, family and colleagues. Failure to fully listen usually results in missed opportunities and mistakes. Below are some tips on improving your listening skills:
Stay present. Be open-minded when listening and focus on what your customer is telling you instead of just focusing on closing the sale. This allows you to develop a true interest in actually helping them and providing them with a solution.
Make your customer feel heard. This involves making sure that your customer feels as if they are being listened to by clarifying what they had previously said during the conversation. Ask questions and rephrase comments in your own words to make sure that you have also understood what they have said.
Lookout for what is not stated. If you feel as if your customer is sending mixed messages, ask questions to dig deeper.
The ability to listen is one of the sales skills that has to be learned and practiced. Being a good listener allows you to receive and process information from your customer that you could have missed otherwise. When you give your customer your focus and attention, your are likely to dramatically improve your closing ratio
If you want to improve your listening skills, I highly recommend the resource below!
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