Increase your Sales by LISTENING! Use these 5 Tools of Active Listening

Increase your Sales by LISTENING! Use these 5 Tools of Active Listening.

People are always asking me what to say to become better at sales. They are often surprised by my response:

“Shut the hell up and listen to your prospect!”

When it comes to sales, the hardest thing to teach anyone is how to listen effectively.

Listening Your Way Into a SALE

In the history of the human race, no one ever listened themselves out of a job. No one ever listened themselves out of a relationship. Certainly, no one ever listened themselves out of a sale.

Entrepreneurs get so wrapped up in all the miraculous virtues of their product that they often fail to ask their prospects if they actually need it.

People unskilled at sales tend to do stupid things like interrupting their prospect, telling them their concerns are wrong or giving up at the first NO.

As humans, we all share a deep need to be understood and heard.

We want to connect with other people. We want to feel appreciated. We want the people who are trying to sell us stuff to listen to what we are saying.

The reason so many people suck at selling is because they are consumed with making the sale, instead of being consumed with serving their prospect.

You Must LOVE Every Little Rejection

Most entrepreneurs are so afraid of being rejected that they will blather on and on non-stop, hoping the sale will magically happen by itself. It never does.

Instead, you must fall in love with the NO.

Get excited when your prospect says they don’t want what you’re offering them. Use it as an opportunity to discover more about their wants and needs.

Usually, it isn’t what you’re selling that they don’t like — it’s how you’re selling it!

Approach every NO with curiosity. Use every NO to learn more about what they don’t want. Let every NO be a pathway to perfecting your pitch and closing more deals!

Five Simple Tools of Listening in a Sale

Below are the listening tools that I teach all my clients to use during a sale.

If you use these tools, you will find you have a much better connection with your prospect, and you’ll likely close a lot more sales!

Listening Tool 1:

Start every sale with the idea that your product might not be right for your prospect.

This will force you to ask a lot of questions, push you to listen, and help you identify why your product is a good fit for them.

Listening Tool 2:

Mirror back their answer to EVERY question you ask.

For example, if you ask when they want to use your product and they say, “Only on the weekends,” respond with, “So you only want to use this on the weekends. Do I have that right?” This might seem redundant, but there is nothing more important to people than knowing you heard them.

Listening Tool 3:

Ask them what is important to them about your product.

As they answer, physically write down what they say on a piece of paper. Don’t type them into your phone. Write them on a piece of paper.

Your prospect will be able to see you are writing down their words. This will make them feel heard and appreciated.

Listening Tool 4:

During the sales meeting, ask enough “YES Questions” to get at least 25 YES from your prospect. This will slow you down and also ensure you stay engaged with them.

If you need help with this, CLICK HERE to get my YES Toolbox of over 45 YES Questions.

Listening Tool 5:

During your meeting, listen for something they are interested in that has NOTHING to do with your product.

After the meeting, do a Google search on it. Find something valuable you can share with them.

For example: If they casually mentioned an interest in brewing their own beer, find a YouTube video about it and send it to them.

DO NOT mention your product! Show you care about them, whether or not they buy something from you.

If this has been helpful, you can download this and all my tools for success by just texting the word SUCCESS to my personal cell phone 213-409-8366.

Or CLICK HERE to schedule a no-catch, no-cost, 15-minute consultation.