A good sales call is not practicing a smooth chat, the perfect elevator pitch or convincing with piles of evidence and arguments. Customers convince you by listening! How do you discover the real needs, interests and expectations? By listening.
Research* shows that we spend 60 percent of our communication time listening. Research shows that we only remember 25% of what we hear. Are we losing our ability to listen? In this blog four tools to learn to listen consciously.
How did we lose our sixth sense?
Bet you'll hear the cry ' You're not listening to me!"I have often thought that a customer or colleague misinterpreted you again. Why is it that people don't always listen well and how do you get rid of bad listening habits? The world is noisy, there are voices and sounds everywhere. When you are present in a crowded room it is tiring to listen. We become impatient, we do not want long and good conversations but quickly get the right information to us. We also become more insensitive, the media have to shout shocking headlines at us to get our attention. This means that it becomes more difficult for us to pay attention to the calm, the subtle, the restrained.
Efficiency of conscious listening
Listening is our access to understanding. Conscious listening always creates understanding. As a salesperson, you can give advice to help customers make their choice. Even more important is to actively listen to them. Listen to the wishes of your customers, their experiences with cars or kitchens and let them know that you are listening. I'll give you four simple tools you can take with you to get rid of bad listening habits.
Four tools to learn to listen consciously
The first is silence. Allow yourself 3 minutes of silence a day, a wonderful exercise to reset and recalibrate your ears. A second tool is 'the mixer'. If you are in a crowded room, ask yourself how many channels you are listening to. In addition, try to consciously pay attention to very normal noises such as the coffee machine. The above facets seem 'vague’ and 'weird' but they make us aware of what filters our brain. Due to the overload of sound, our brain automatically filters it so that we don't even hear it anymore. The latter tool is more practical in nature and teaches us to listen consciously. Use the AWSV formula to learn to listen consciously!
- Pay attention. Look at someone when they speak and don't let your attention wander. This way you give your customers the feeling that they are being heard.
- Out of appreciation. Make small sounds like " hmm " and " okay." Nod in agreement if a customer himself mentions the advantages of your product. It also helps to hum or repeat bits of the customer's sentence. Do not fall into the customer's mind, but connect your own story with his.
- Summarize. Summarizing is one of the parts of active listening where the word ‘so’ is crucial. Show that you pay attention to the customer's story. In addition, check that you have understood the other person correctly and that the other person can indicate whether your image is correct.
- Ask. After using the top three tools, you can ask questions. Ask a question, build a silence, wait for the answer, and build another silence. Show that you care about the other person: if you really care about the other person, it won't take you much effort to listen. What you send out, you will receive again.
Conclusion
Acquiring new information will not improve sales performance; that is only possible through practice. Selling is applied knowledge. It is a behavior and adopting a new behavior is difficult. Try to consciously listen, apply the AWSV formula, and consciously create silences to reset and recalibrate your ears. I challenge you to listen consciously! Ask a question, build a silence, wait for the answer, and build another silence. Success
