Want to make your sales grow faster? Begin by boosting your listening skills! Listening is the most powerful communication skill you can possess. Jump-start your sales using these seven better listening tips:

1. Know what the client is saying.

The average salesperson listens efficiently only about 25% of the time. When a customer gives details relevant to the sale you?re trying to make, repeat what you?ve heard. Most salespeople have difficulty remembering what the customer said, but many are very good at remembering what they themselves said.

If you summarize what the customer says, the customer feels that you?re listening and you internalize the message. Say something like, ?So if I understand you correctly?? This closing recaptures the pre-agreed on points and lets the customer hear you repeat his needs.

2. Understand the difference between hearing and listening.

Hearing is a passive activity -- you?re allowing sound waves to penetrate your ear. In listening, you actively determine meaning to what is heard -- you listen with your eyes and ears. You?re in control when a customer is talking about a problem he or she is encountering and out of control when you?re talking about yourself.

3. Maintain eye contact.

Physically tend to the conversation by providing feedback: lean forward, adjust body posture, nod your head and take notes. These are visual signs that you?re listening. Be sure to make eye contact about 60% of the time. The customer will become more animated and interact more strongly with you. If you look away, it?s a signal of indifference. Looking at the client as he or she speaks says that you care and helps build trust.

4. Don?t allow yourself to become distracted.

Suppose you?ve giving your sales presentation and the buyer gives you feedback on what he or she needs. The problem? He nervously coughs to clear his sinuses ever three minutes. After 30 minutes, you?ve started to anticipate the next cough rather than listen to what he has to say.

The solution? Mentally block out the nuisance behavior and focus on his comments.

5. Unload yesterday?s baggage.

Don?t call on customers while you?re still fuming or reliving distracting moments from the past. Your attention is today, right now, in the present. Otherwise, your customers will be yesterday.

6. Know your client.

Evaluate the customers? personality profile as you listen and frame the message according to what is likely to make them happy. It?s important to realize that customers are driven by a force that calls for them to listen and respond in a particular way. Your job is to uncover that force.

7. Listen to the customer?s emotions.

Get a clear message of what the customer is trying to tell you. Observe body language, interpret nonverbal signals that give you added insight over and above merely the words used. If they don?t match, the truth is hiding in the nonverbal; the body doesn?t lie.

Verify what you?re hearing. Check to make sure you?re processing the message. Ask, ?Why would you say that??

Good listeners assume 51% responsibility for the conversation. But what about the talkers? Here are four techniques to heighten your customers? listening skills.

1. Say something that shows you?re an insider.

Mention an event or talk about a relevant story and ask, ?How did that affect you and your business?? Or, say something that is undeniable, but insightful.

2. Speak in logical sequence.

The mind naturally seeks to categorize and visualize as it listens. When you present information randomly, the listener must catalog your comments, then unscramble them to fit in logical brain containers. You begin to sound foggy. It?s difficult to regain a customer?s interest once you?ve stranded him in dense fog.

3. Actively look for the ?pain.?

Ask questions that are typical problems of other customers. Once you offer industry-specific wisdom, you customer will listen more openly.

4. Manage interruptions.

If the customer takes phone calls during your presentation, say, ?Would it be better if we try this another time?? Is next Tuesday better for your?? Or, ?How much time can you give me?? If the answer is ten minutes, remind the person after the time has lapsed. Tell the customer that you appreciate the time, and ask if he would like for you to continue or reschedule another visit.

Summary

Communication is a two-way street. When you're talking you're learning zero. It's only when you're listening that you are learning new information and gaining insight into your customer or prospect.

When the sales call is over, make good notes in your spiral notebook immediately upon getting back in your vehicle. The best note taker often wins the battle for business. Never make the mistake of thinking that you can remember all of the details of what transpired on the sales call.

Bill Lee is author of Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line ($29.95) and 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot ($21.95) Plus $6 S&H for the first book and $1 S&H on additional books. To Order, see Shopping Cart at http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com

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