I’m a good talker, and I’ll bet that you’re a pretty good talker too. Most salespeople are. Talking is an important part of the job. How else are we supposed to communicate the value of our products and services?
Don’t underestimate the power of listening though. Listening more and talking less can help you increase sales in a number of different ways.
Here are three examples.
1) Address Problems Before They Become Deal Breakers
If etailers are hesitant to engage with you—which, let’s be honest, most are skeptical about you until you can prove your value—listening can provide a solution.
If you can find out what questions and concerns etailers have early on during the sales cycle, then you can address those issues before etailers make a final decision based on them.
If you’re able to listen, understand, and then address all of their problems, why wouldn’t they engage with you?
2) Provide Tailored Recommendations
Every etailer’s situation is different. The more tailored and specific you can make your recommendations, the better. Not only does this show that you’re willing to understand their business, but it also gives them an opportunity to see what it’ll be like working with you.
What’s more, I actually think listening and forming a solution around an etailer’s specific needs helps you think outside the box and get more creative. If their needs are unlike any you’ve ever dealt with before, then you can bet you’ll come up with some new, innovative solutions. You’ll have to, right?
3) Be Pro-Active Instead Of Re-Active
Most salespeople can look back at a situation, analyze the numbers and provide a recommendation to run with moving forward.
What separates the good salespeople from the great ones is their ability to be proactive.
And the only way to recommend a new path for etailers to take is to understand where those etailers want to go in the first place. That’s where listening comes in.
Knowing an etailer’s goals and objectives is critical to being able to provide solutions that drive them to those goals before the competition has a chance to catch up.
Listen more. Talk less. Build relationships—it’s that simple!
What key elements do you listen for when building client relationships?