Once again I watched a b2b sales person do a no-no, if they want to be effective and sell more to their customers. What is the no-no I’m talking about?
No Sharing Solutions or Making a Presentation until You Have Listened in Depth to What the Customer or Prospect Desires.
I know, this is considered an elementary issue by some of you, yet, I continue to see b2b sales people continue to shoot themselves in the foot and admire their marksmanship – rather not shooting in the first place. One of the Keys to your success in B2B Sales is to follow the Questioning Model in your sales strategy and hold back on any type of early presentation or offering a solution to the buyer.
Use the questioning model of selling to go wide and deep of gathering information, opinions, desires and visions from your potential customer. It is more important for the customer to feel you are more interested in their situation than pushing your product or service.
It’s true. The research I keep reading on C-Level executives plus my personal experience shows they want you to care more about their total situation and eliminate the classic or traditional selling tactics. If you do use the tried and true “old school or traditional” sales tactics on these high level executives you will be shoved down into the lower regions of their organization – the commodity zone of low price hackers!
The art of listening is one of the competencies established by the b2b sales superstars. They know it is important to get the customer talking – especially about themselves and their current vs desired situations. Yet, the art of listening goes further than just sitting still and listening.
The Art of Listening is about being an active listener. One who sits forward in their chair, nodding as the customer speaks, agreeing with good points and acknowledging issues as issues. Then there are the clarity questions to gain an deeper or clearer understanding of specific terminology used by the customer.
These actions insure an engaged customer who feels you actually care – especially when you ask the specific questions for greater understanding. They recognize this trait as an action taken by winners.
There you have a quick b2b sales tips in the Art of Listening for b2b Sales Success.
Voss Graham
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