3 reasons to pratice Active Listening

Why listen to people you think are wrong?

1. Empathy
2. more, better info
3. you might have misunderstood

http://www.trainingmag.com/article/last-word-hear-ye-hear-ye

Mmmm. That's interesting

Leverage your successes, knowledge & expertise. Get your prospect wanting to learn more.

In this video, Jill Konrath talk about getting your clients to say ""Mmmm. That's interesting. I need to learn more."
 
This is similar to the "Ben Duffy" technique, where you anticipate a customers concerns or questions and handle them up front. Without waiting for them to bring them up. What Jill asks you to do is:

1. think about your success,
2. find customers who have similar problems that were solved by your solution,
3. open the sales call with  a question that will not only raise the curiosity of your clients, but also qualify the opportunity.

What would someone say in response to Jill's questions? There are three alternatives;

1. "Yes, that is interesting. Tell me more",
2. "No, I've not thought about that because we do it differently."
3. "No, I've never thought about that and do not think it is relevant"

Notice each answer above gives you more information than you had before. Each answer above has a follow-up question begging to be asked:

1. "Sure, Can I ask a few questions about your business first?"
2. "Really? That is interesting. What do you do that makes you successful?"
3. "OK. Tell me more about your situation."

List your business initiatives and identify your successes with customers. Create a one-sentence question that describes the problems you solved and create curiosity about how you do it. Use this sentence in your next sales call.

As sales coach and trainer, I see that what gets in the way of getting agreement for many sales people is their own mouth.

Josiane Feigon writes about the importance and discounting of introverts in sales. She makes the great point that in consultative sales, and in today's "Sales 2.0", sales reps talk less and listen more.

But what I consistently see are sales reps sticking to their own agenda, failing to acknowledge what their customer is saying, and working really hard to get in all their key points. It is a self-centric perspective that uses the customer to validate the sales rep. That is an extrovert perspective. Extroverts seek stimulation from outside themselves about themselves.

Introverts seek stimulation from within themselves, about others. They seek to understand, not be understood.

I highly recommend this TED talk by Susan Cain (also in Josiane's post above) about the power of introverts to gather ideas, reflect, and be self-directed. They are good listeners and thinkers who can help a customer define their problem. They let the customer lead , and follow and guide using their expertise. Introverts will likely work behind the scenes to get things done with collaboration and compromise.

These important skills are often discounted in favor of sales people who can "push for results", "be persistent", and "stay focused": all code words for driver, extroverted behaviors. That these are good sales behaviors is a value judgement. I suggest they get in the way more often than they help.

Let's recognize the value introverts can bring to a sales interaction with their ability to listen, clarify and reflect upon a customer's challenges.

How to say No

If you do not find a need, get out! Leave. Move on to the next customer. However, I never had a good way to do this. How do you leave a sales call when there is no need you can help with?

Sam Parker at www.justsell.com gives some good ideas. I restate his work and suggest:

"Not Now, Not ever, Never"

Not now: If your assessment is that now is not the time for a sale, but soon may be, use Sam's exit: “That sounds like an exciting project. We may be a little early in our discussions given all of your priorities. May I give you a call in two months?” Pend this client for a return call. The current status is something you may be able to help with, so keep in touch.

Not ever: I'm not being literal here, but sometimes the client has lots going on, and there is nothing in their priorities we can help with now. They need to put out current fires or begin current projects before we can help them. Sam suggests, “Wow, you really have your hands full at the moment. Perhaps we should talk again in a few months while you focus on these other priorities..."

Never: This is when the client is not a fit for your product or strategy. But never say never. Things change. People retire; companies buy, sell, or merge. Competitors leave. Sam uses a maintain strategy: “At the moment, I’m not sure we can provide enough value to you but I’d like to keep in touch should things change. May I keep in touch periodically?”

However, consider this can be a chance to build credibility in new relationships, and enhance existing relationships.

Unless you sell a purely transactional product or service, and no one really does, see this situation for the opportunity it can be. You may not be able to sell your product now, but can you sell yourself? Can you offer resources or expertise that helps the client now - not related to your product?

Before they can use your product, do they need to make a hire? You can help with sharing how similar businesses have found good people. Do they need to create a marketing plan? Share your expertise about markets, and offer ideas that may not have thought of, based on your own company research. Use the skills and expertise you have from your life, interests and experiences.

Do you lack expertise, knowledge or resources to offer? Then offer empathy. "I understand your goals, and I see you have some ambitious and achievable plans. You are concerned about time and budget, but you have a plan to keep you on track. This is great time for you, and I'd like to check back to see how it progresses."

When you are thinking about leaving a sales call - ask yourself "Do I do it Now, Not ever? Or Never?" Because you will always have something to offer.

Don't Confuse Comfort with Competence

Scott Anthony, in Don't Confuse Passion with Competence,  reminds me of another basic confusion. I often hear people saying "I don't need training. I am comfortable with this".

Yes, you nay be comfortable doing something. Doesn't mean you are any good at it.

Often this is said about public speaking and presenting. Many managers will send their staff to a presentation skills class, but not attend themselves. Ever. Because these managers feel they are "Comfortable getting up in front of people."

Unfortunately, if you were to see some of these managers "getting up in front of people", you would see misplaced confidence.

Comfort and Competence are two different things. Trainer talk about learners being conscious and competent: aware of what they are doing, and if it works; versus unconscious: lacking the awareness to match their actions to their results.

Unconscious Incompetents don't know what they are doing and are not getting results. So they insist the problem is something besides them. In training these are the people who say "Yes, but with a real customer I would not have done that..."

Conscious is the best place to be to improve your performance. A conscious learner knows there are things they do not know, and so have a desire to learn. They recognize that they could be doing things differently and better.

Unconscious learners? Not so much. They have to be led to a place of self awareness where they connect their lack of results to their own performance. If they are getting successful results, they need help understanding what they did to achieve success. This is the challenge of coaching.

Where are you? Getting results but not sure why? Or having trouble duplicating your success in different situations?

Don't confuse your comfort with competence.

What does the competiton say?

We hear when competitor sales reps spread rumor and inuendo. But what are they doing and saying the rest of the time?

Dave Stein gives a great discovery strategy to learn what your competiton is doing. Review these questions and pick the ones that are relevant for you, the ones you are not asking now. He calls this your "competitor IQ". While Dave focuses on understanding broad competitor strategy, the point applies to the questions you ask to understand the competiton in your sales calls. How smart do you compete?

You may be wondering what's the benefit of talking about the competiton when you could be spending time discovering needs for your own product features and benefits. I can think of two ways to use this information:

• Understanding the context of your product features and benefits and how they compare to your competitors will help you understand your SWOT. You cannot know your strengths if you do not know your competiton's weaknesses.
• Know how your competition is presenting their product features and benefits. If competitors mainly sell against your price, or your service, you can counter directly with correct information, or offer additional product features and benefits to overcome these competitor-raised objections.

Know your competitors strategy as well as your own. What questions will you ask in your next sales calls?

Not just how you sound, but how you look

In face-to-face sales, we all know dress sends a signal to customers. It can help or hurt your credibility. Inside sales has been immune to this, till now. Josiane Feigon says start looking good from the waist up! With the purchase of Skype by Microsoft, we may see the beginning of new corporate sales applications that will  help you or hurt you.

Inside Sales people are aware that they must catch and hold their customer's attention. They know that is hard to do when you cannot see them and they cannot see you. Without visual presence, customers feel they can multi-task while on the phone. And they do. We all do. How many times did you check email during your last web meeting?

Adding visual contact to inside sales adds a new way to catch and hold attention. Imagine what you can do with gestures and props to improve communication. It's a whole new world.

If you could see your customer while on a phone sales call, what would you do?