Five Critically Important Pieces of Advice
You Can Take to the Bank!
The next time you’re on a sales-call make sure you use one or more of the following Listening & Sales Mastery Tactics:
- Be mindful of the other person’s body language and observe it carefully. Is it congruent with what they’re saying? If not, beware! Make sure you ask appropriate and timely clarifying questions before you move on to the next topic!
- When the other person pauses and searches for a word…don’t offer one! Instead, give them as much time as they need to clearly articulate what they mean. Then, use the power of paraphrasing what you just heard them say...this will clearly let them know you’re listening intently to every word they’re saying.
- Make sure you appropriately clarify the other person’s definition of words that may be emotionally charged, unfamiliar to you, seem to be out of context or, pivotal to the outcome of the conversation. You can do this by the skillful use of a clarifying question. Here’s an example of the ‘pivotal’ word 'cost': “just a moment ago I heard that [your team is concerned about cost over-runs of more than 12%]. Could you please clarify for me your definition of ‘cost’?”
- If your conversation ‘wanders’ off course you can successfully use a ‘re-directing’ question during a short pause…such as: “earlier we were exploring your 2015 stretch goals, did I understand correctly that you…”
- Whether you’re on the telephone or in person always ask… “Is it OK with you if I take notes?” Most of the time, it will be ok but, by asking you imply that what the other person will be saying is important.