prospects. Listening speed is faster than speaking speed. Therefore, place all your conscious energy on the prospect – on their words as well as the nonverbal message they are send- ing while they speak.
5. DON’T BE DISTRACTED. When you are making a presenta- tion to more than one person, it can be difficult to listen to every- thing happening. Talking among others in the room can distract from the process of listening. To ensure that you hear what is important, physically turn to the person who has the floor at the moment, show that you are listening by using their name, and then turn to the next person. This will let everyone in the room know that each will get your full attention.
6. ASK FOR DETAILS. Active listening implies responding to what you hear – even if it is not some- thing you automatically understand. If your prospect’s message seems too technical or unfamiliar, listen until they finish, then ask for definitions and explanations of anything you don’t understand. Repeat it all back to be sure you are both in agreement before proceeding.
7. LISTEN FOR SUBTLETIES. Do you jump to conclusions before the whole story is told? Arrogant ne- gotiators may feel they have heard it before – or say it is like something else they have heard that was false (a party line or the like) – and thus leap to a conclusion. Listening means tuning yourself in for fine differences in the other side’s story. Watch for the tiny shades of differ- ence that indicate some bending in your direction.
8. TAKE NOTES. Do you try to remember too much and get lost? Your prospect may be giving you a complicated and lengthy story. Take notes. If you get lost, then call for a halt, ask them to
repeat, restate back what you under- stand has been said, ask for con- firmation, then urge your prospect to go on. Don’t leap blindly across barriers of understanding.
9. LISTEN WITH YOUR WHOLE BEING. Feel what the prospect is telling you. Sometimes your own feelings are a good barometer for what you are hearing. Prospects may not want to tell you everything that’s on their mind. Your listening skills, as well as your innate sense of what’s going on, may prove invaluable. Focus on delivery, tone of voice, breathing pat- terns, speed of speech, as well as the content of the words used. While the message is important, sometimes the way it’s conveyed is the real message.
10. CONCENTRATE ON LISTENING TO ONE TOPIC AT A TIME. Some salespeople simply can’t concentrate on a single topic for very long. Cultivate the ability to stick with a topic. Don’t let your involvement in the sale break your listening concen- tration. Jumping all over the map confuses you and the prospect.
11. LISTEN TO EVERYTHING – EVEN THE DETAILS YOU MAY NOT WANT TO HEAR. Skilled listeners don’t discard infor- mation they don’t like; they respond to what they hear no matter how unpleasant it may be. Irate customers are never calmed by being ignored. Listen to the problem and then restate the issue in your own words to be sure you and the prospect are communicating. Then you can go on to deal with the issue.
12. BE PATIENT.
Pencil-tapping, foot-swinging, and finger-drumming are all clues that you are not listening to what the prospect is saying. If you are nervous, then calm yourself with deep breathing or positive self-talk before you enter the prospect’s office. A nervous mind can’t listen.
Use this list to check the areas where you might improve your listening skills. If you refer to it regularly, you should find a marked improvement in your re- lationships with prospects and custom- ers. Improving your listening attitude along with your listening skill can improve your overall sales results.
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