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Sometimes, becoming a better salesperson simply comes down to thinking like a customer. People like to feel they are being heard and improving your active listening skills can help salespeople quickly build rapport that is critical in gaining the customer’s trust, and ultimately making the sale. Practicing active listening techniques can help you serve the customer better while also increasing your chances of earning their business, because being a good listener helps you gather the information necessary to address their needs and overcome any concerns.
There are several active listening techniques you can use to make sure you’re keeping focus where it belongs: on the customer. But first, ask yourself why active listening skills, which seem so fundamental, are so hard for most people to master.
Talking too much: Talking puts us in the driver’s seat, in control, where most of us prefer to be, but listening lets the other person speaking briefly lead the conversation. That can be scary, but not if you think of it the right way.
Get sharp tip: While listening opens the door to the unknown, it also opens the door to opportunity. The customer might share his or her main objection. Bingo! Now you know what you need to overcome their objections and build trust. Changing the way you think about interpersonal communication is an active listening technique you can practice to improve your sales results.
Thinking ahead: While the customer is talking, it’s tempting to start planning your response. After all, what if he or she finishes speaking, and you’re left struggling to come up with a response. The problem, of course, is that while your full attention is focused on writing the perfect, cucumber-cool reply in your head, you’re missing all the invaluable information and nonverbal cues the customer is sharing.
Get sharp tip: While getting out of your own head can be one of the trickiest active listening skills to master, remember that by the time you get to unveil your perfectly composed response, it might already be out of date. The customer may have already shifted his or her interest to other topics. So instead of tuning out while you think up the ideal answer, pay attention and learn to buy yourself time in other ways. Take a deep breath before you speak or compliment the customer on his or her question. Saying something like, “that’s a really interesting point,” is an active listening technique that can give you back those few seconds you need to pull your thoughts together.
Acting like you’re listening: We have trained through social norms that listening is about nodding, smiling, making eye contact, and showing interest in what the other person is saying. The problem is, sometimes we’re so good at the “show” that when the conversation is over, we realize we haven’t really heard most of what the other person has said.
Get Sharp Tip: An easy way to improve your active listening skills is to repeat back all or part of what the customer says. This might feel silly at first, but it will force you to stop acting like you’re listening and really listen.Practicing this active listening technique can help you listen carefully to absorb more of what the customer is saying, providing you with valuable ammo and key points you can use to solve problems to address their concerns and close the sale.
Improving your listening skills isn’t easy. Getting good at active listening involves breaking deeply ingrained habits, but just like body language or facial expressions, listening can be improved by staying focused and practicing. Try some of the active listening techniques above to keep yourself present and tuned in while interacting with customers. Notice how much more information you’re able to gather about the customer. As active listening begins to pay off in the form of more sales, you may find that it will become easier as well. Eventually, you may start to see active listening as yet another essential tool your sales arsenal, a must-have interpersonal skill that can help catapult you toward your career goals!
If you’re interested in a job in sales, developing and nurturing skills to catapult your career can help you achieve your career advancement goals. Whether these fall under the umbrella of growing in task-oriented skills or getting to know your strengths, below we show you “the road” to standing out as a leader in your respective role.
Begin by understanding the benefits of problem solving and how that skill can help you become an effective leader. With a leadership position, you’ll also want to hone in on trusting yourself and building confidence as your network grows. Finally, lean into the interpersonal skills developed along the way, such as communication, trust, and your tenacity as you tackle challenges along the way.
These strengths and sales skills can help you in your job and several other disciplines. Perhaps even more important is that they can cross over into your daily life, your personal wellbeing, and state of mind. We hope this infographic on career advancement in sales jobs ultimately helps take your strengths and productivity to the next level!
We Asked About Careers in Sales; Sales Managers Answered.
Whether you're pursuing a career in sales, or you’re considering one, working in sales is exciting, challenging, and highly rewarding! A career in sales can benefit you by helping you find focus, teaching you to set ambitious goals and achieve them, and by showing you the value of helping others reach their goals, as well. We asked a group of sales managers about what they believe to be the best and most rewarding aspects of working in sales, and the results are in. Check out our findings in the sales infographic below:
A career in sales can have a profound impact on you and your future success. Even if you only work in sales for a short time, gaining sales experience can increase your value to a potential employer by expanding and improving your skillset. It can also bolster your leadership ability by putting you in a position to mentor others, to help them achieve their own career goals and aspirations.
What does it take to be a successful salesperson? One of the best ways to unlock your real sales potential is to look at the traits of successful people in other fields. Whether it’s astrophysics or technology or sports, there are a number of traits that successful people share. Discover what those traits are here, and find out how you can utilize them to become the most successful salesperson you can be.
Passion
It’s nearly impossible to be successful in any arena if you aren’t passionate about what you do. It takes long hours and hard work to get to the top of any field. If you’re not passionate about what you do, it makes it that much harder to put in the effort. But when you love what you do, all those sacrifices you make for the job no longer seem like work. They feel worth it, because this is what you were meant to do.
Innovation
Innovation is one of the main traits of successful people that pops up in nearly every field. But how, exactly, do you tap into the creativity that leads to innovation? Try looking at the obstacles in your life. It may seem counterintuitive, but every obstacle has an upside. It provides you with a way to find a solution. Ideas are born from the combination of a need to accomplish a task and a fresh perspective. Keep your eyes open for novel solutions that others may not see. Keep your ears open to listen for obstacles that others might have. Ask questions that can uncover the root of the obstacle, and you’ll unleash your inner innovator in no time.
Self-Improvement
Think about your favorite sports figure for a moment. They are exciting to watch—thrilling even. You root for them and you’re disappointed when they lose. Now imagine if you found out they no longer showed up to training and refused to practice. It wouldn’t take long for you to find someone else to cheer for, would it? Self-improvement is a process that never ends. There’s always room for you to be grow, improve your skills, and become a more successful salesperson. There really is no such thing as a plateau, because there is always more to learn. Maintain a student mentality to avoid becoming complacent. Look for ways to further your education, your technique, and your motivation to ensure long-term success!
Self-Reliance
Successful people don’t become successful through luck. Luck is merely means being prepared when an opportunity arrives. You have to develop your skills and position yourself in a space where opportunity exists. That way you are ready, available, and capable to meet your opportunities head on. Remember that a successful salesperson can thrive in any market, because when you are living up to your potential, you create your own success.
Provide Value
You’re never really selling goods or services; what you are always selling is solutions. Your clients have problems that they need resolved, and you have the means to resolve them. Listen carefully to your client, and ask them questions that get to the root of what their issues are. Then, you are poised to add value to their day-to-day life. Think about Martha Stewart. She mastered the skill of making a beautiful home, and in turn, she sold the solutions she discovered along the way to millions of people across the country and benefitted their lives.
Persistence
Failure is inevitable, and the ability to work through it and keep yourself dedicated to your goals is one of the defining traits of successful people. There are countless examples of this. Sir James Dyson created 5,126 failed prototypes before creating a bagless vacuum that worked. Dyson Vacuums is now valued at billions of dollars. Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, had his first book rejected by 27 different publishers. Stephen King threw away an entire early draft of Carrie because he was unsatisfied with his product. His wife saved it from the trash and it eventually launched his career. Every failure is a chance to learn, to adapt, and to refine your approach.
Self-Control
A successful sales person doesn’t need anyone other than themselves to hold them accountable. Similarly, you are the only person who truly knows just how valuable you are to a team. While your manager will set certain expectations of you based on your potential, to really excel, you should set even higher standards for yourself. You know what you are capable of. You have the discipline to achieve success. You must answer to yourself at the end of every day.
Exceed Expectations
There’s an old sales saying, “under-commit and over-deliver.” But what happens when you over-commit and still over-deliver? Successful people do more than what is asked of them. They think of their job description as where their job starts, and then they look to add even more value to their team. In addition to proving to others that they are a team player, their work really stands out.
Goal-Oriented
Across all disciplines, it is a proven trait of successful people to remain goal-oriented in spite of any and all surrounding circumstances. The key to obtaining the goals you set for yourself is to approach them strategically. Differentiate short term goals from long term goals and prioritize your progress accordingly. Realize that long term goals are often made up of a number of more easily actionable short term goals. Tackle those short-term goals one by one, and soon you will discover you have achieved the success you deserve.
Be sure to check the Cydcor Blog regularly for more tips on how to become the successful salesperson you are meant to be!