Six Techniques to Improve Effective Listening

As a big believer in the use of the questioning model for b2b sales success, I need to share the other side of the equation. Making the environment safe for the customer or potential customer to truthfully answer your questions.

Your ability to effectively listen is a major contributor to both making it safe to answer your questions and most importantly allowing the better rapport to be built during the question and answer process. For the corporate customer, being in a safe place is one of the most important concerns they have. And, the ability to listen (you are not talking or telling) allows for a feeling of “I’m important” for the customer.

So here are six techniques designed to improve effective listening for you. Use these techniques and you will be seen as a true sales professional.

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Listening the Other Number One Skill in Selling

Closely related to the Questioning skill is the ability to actively listen to everything being said and also what is not being openly said. The key for the sales person is to focus on the customer when the customer is talking and particularly when answering questions presented by the sales person. The number one flaw with aggressive sales people is they are too busy thinking about what they will say next, mentally rehearsing the script plan or just plain thinking about other things unrelated to moment.

Sales Superstars take the proactive listening skill to the next level – giving them a competitive advantage and greater trust with their customers. There are several reasons to improve our listening skills:

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