“Soft skills” are so vital to build effective relationship with prospect clients. It’s easy to respond to customer objections in a F2F meeting, but what about learning how to develop and maintain relationships with prospects?
Sales reps need to coach their selves on the art of listening to prospects. It is one of the quickest ways to improve their sales performance. Here are some powerful tips to teach your reps:
1. Face the speaker and maintain eye contact
Do your conversational partners the courtesy of turning to face them. Put aside papers, books, the phone and other distractions. Look at them, even if they don’t look at you. Shyness, uncertainty, shame, guilt, or other emotions, along with cultural taboos, can inhibit eye contact in some people under some circumstances. Excuse the other guy, but stay focused yourself.
2. Be attentive, but relaxed
Now that you’ve made eye contact, relax. You don’t have to stare fixedly at the other person. You can look away now and then and carry on like a normal person. The important thing is to be attentive. To “attend” another person means to:
• be present
• give attention
• apply or direct yourself
• pay attention
• remain ready to serve
3. Keep an open mind
Listen without judging the other person or mentally criticising the things she tells you. If what she says alarms you, go ahead and feel alarmed, but don’t say to yourself, “Well, that was a stupid move.” As soon as you indulge in judgmental bemusements, you’ve compromised your effectiveness as a listener.
Listen without jumping to conclusions!
4. Slow the conversation down
Sales reps tend to be talkative people with lots of ideas and opinions, a characteristic that can sometimes devolve into talking a thousand miles per hour.
Talking clearly and slowly can help build a relationship of trust and understanding with your prospect. They’ll gain interest or get rid of their stress away quick. Articulate your thoughts at a digestible speed. Pause in case they need clarification, ask questions to guide and help shape what they share, and never interrupt them. Which brings me to my next point…
5. Don’t interrupt
Interrupting, means you’ll miss out on something interesting your prospect would have said if you’d given them the chance. They might have had other things to share that would help shape your conversation, but they couldn’t because you interjected. It’s okay to interrupt is if you didn’t hear something or want to clarify. But even then, you may want to make a note of it to clarify later once the person is finished speaking to avoid impeding the flow.
6. Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.
When you don’t understand something, of course, you should ask the speaker to explain it to you. But rather than interrupt, wait until the speaker pauses. Then say something like, “Back up a second. I didn’t understand what you just said about…”
7. Clarify
A big part of listening closely to someone is letting them know you are listening closely. The speaker will know you’re listening and will appreciate it, share more of their story, and they will find you more likeable.
Try repeating their own words to show them you care about what they’re saying, and also to make sure you understood them. Sometimes you might take away a message that was meant to mean something else without knowing it. Don’t let important information get lost in translation.
8. Pay attention to nonverbal cues – Listen to emotions
Words are not always an accurate representation of what a person feels. It can be hard to interpret conversation over the phone because you lose the ability to read a person’s body language, but it is possible. Start by feeling out their tone of voice and stress levels. Practice during your conversations with co-workers and learn to recognise how the volume, speed, and tone of people’s voices can indicate how they’re feeling. On every sales call, make it a goal to think about what the person might be thinking behind their words. If you exclude email, the majority of direct communication is probably nonverbal.
9. Try to feel what the speaker is feeling
If you feel sad when the person with whom you are talking expresses sadness, joyful when she expresses joy, fearful when she describes her fears—and convey those feelings through your facial expressions and words—then your effectiveness as a listener is assured. Empathy is the heart and soul of good listening.
To experience empathy, you have to put yourself in the other person’s place and allow yourself to feel what it is like to be her at that moment. This is not an easy thing to do. It takes energy and concentration. But it is a generous and helpful thing to do, and it facilitates communication like nothing else does.
10. Ask questions
Most sales reps know how important it is to ask questions to narrow down their prospect’s pain points. After all, the true meaning of sales is actively listening to people about their pains and needs and then helping them solve that pain and need. This is especially true at the beginning of the conversation during the information-gathering phase. Spend the first part of your discussion in the meeting asking precise questions to get a grasp of who your prospect is and what their business problems and goals are. Questions that start such as “Tell-me what benefits do you provide to your employees right now,” prompts prospects to tell their stories and share their experiences.
11. Give the speaker regular feedback
Show that you understand where the speaker is coming from by reflecting the speaker’s feelings. “You must be thrilled!” “What a terrible ordeal for you.” “I can see that you are confused.” If the speaker’s feelings are hidden or unclear, then occasionally paraphrase the content of the message. Or just nod and show your understanding through appropriate facial expressions and an occasional well-timed “hmmm” or “uh-huh.”
The idea is to give the speaker some proof that you are listening, and that you are following her train of thought—not off indulging in your own fantasies while she talks to the ether.
12. Remember stories
Trust me: you will stand out to your prospects if you remember little hints from the conversation and refer to them later. This applies to anything; from how many people they have on their team to a story about their daughter they told you during the meeting. When you take notes during your conversation, include those personal stories so you can use them when you follow up. Acknowledging these friendly references will help you build up a rapport with your prospects. It really is the little things that make the difference! Self-critique your listening skills and you will realise wherein your conversation aren’t listening well, then you will be able to learn how to fix it.
12 Tips to Win Clients Over the Phone
“Soft skills” are so vital to build effective relationship with prospect clients. It’s easy to respond to customer objections in a F2F meeting, but what about learning how to develop and maintain relationships with prospects? Sales reps need to coach their selves on the art of listening to prospects. It is one of the quickest ways to improve their sales performance. Here are some powerful tips to teach your reps:
1. Face the speaker and maintain eye contact
Do your conversational partners the courtesy of turning to face them. Put aside papers, books, the phone and other distractions. Look at them, even if they don’t look at you. Shyness, uncertainty, shame, guilt, or other emotions, along with cultural taboos, can inhibit eye contact in some people under some circumstances. Excuse the other guy, but stay focused yourself.
2. Be attentive, but relaxed
Now that you’ve made eye contact, relax. You don’t have to stare fixedly at the other person. You can look away now and then and carry on like a normal person. The important thing is to be attentive. To “attend” another person means to:
• be present
• give attention
• apply or direct yourself
• pay attention
• remain ready to serve
3. Keep an open mind
Listen without judging the other person or mentally criticising the things she tells you. If what she says alarms you, go ahead and feel alarmed, but don’t say to yourself, “Well, that was a stupid move.” As soon as you indulge in judgmental bemusements, you’ve compromised your effectiveness as a listener.
Listen without jumping to conclusions!
4. Slow the conversation down
Sales reps tend to be talkative people with lots of ideas and opinions, a characteristic that can sometimes devolve into talking a thousand miles per hour.
Talking clearly and slowly can help build a relationship of trust and understanding with your prospect. They’ll gain interest or get rid of their stress away quick. Articulate your thoughts at a digestible speed. Pause in case they need clarification, ask questions to guide and help shape what they share, and never interrupt them. Which brings me to my next point…
5. Don’t interrupt
Interrupting, means you’ll miss out on something interesting your prospect would have said if you’d given them the chance. They might have had other things to share that would help shape your conversation, but they couldn’t because you interjected. It’s okay to interrupt is if you didn’t hear something or want to clarify. But even then, you may want to make a note of it to clarify later once the person is finished speaking to avoid impeding the flow.
6. Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.
When you don’t understand something, of course, you should ask the speaker to explain it to you. But rather than interrupt, wait until the speaker pauses. Then say something like, “Back up a second. I didn’t understand what you just said about…”
7. Clarify
A big part of listening closely to someone is letting them know you are listening closely. The speaker will know you’re listening and will appreciate it, share more of their story, and they will find you more likeable.
Try repeating their own words to show them you care about what they’re saying, and also to make sure you understood them. Sometimes you might take away a message that was meant to mean something else without knowing it. Don’t let important information get lost in translation.
8. Pay attention to nonverbal cues – Listen to emotions
Words are not always an accurate representation of what a person feels. It can be hard to interpret conversation over the phone because you lose the ability to read a person’s body language, but it is possible. Start by feeling out their tone of voice and stress levels. Practice during your conversations with co-workers and learn to recognise how the volume, speed, and tone of people’s voices can indicate how they’re feeling. On every sales call, make it a goal to think about what the person might be thinking behind their words. If you exclude email, the majority of direct communication is probably nonverbal.
9. Try to feel what the speaker is feeling
If you feel sad when the person with whom you are talking expresses sadness, joyful when she expresses joy, fearful when she describes her fears—and convey those feelings through your facial expressions and words—then your effectiveness as a listener is assured. Empathy is the heart and soul of good listening.
To experience empathy, you have to put yourself in the other person’s place and allow yourself to feel what it is like to be her at that moment. This is not an easy thing to do. It takes energy and concentration. But it is a generous and helpful thing to do, and it facilitates communication like nothing else does.
10. Ask questions
Most sales reps know how important it is to ask questions to narrow down their prospect’s pain points. After all, the true meaning of sales is actively listening to people about their pains and needs and then helping them solve that pain and need. This is especially true at the beginning of the conversation during the information-gathering phase. Spend the first part of your discussion in the meeting asking precise questions to get a grasp of who your prospect is and what their business problems and goals are. Questions that start such as “Tell-me what benefits do you provide to your employees right now,” prompts prospects to tell their stories and share their experiences.
11. Give the speaker regular feedback
Show that you understand where the speaker is coming from by reflecting the speaker’s feelings. “You must be thrilled!” “What a terrible ordeal for you.” “I can see that you are confused.” If the speaker’s feelings are hidden or unclear, then occasionally paraphrase the content of the message. Or just nod and show your understanding through appropriate facial expressions and an occasional well-timed “hmmm” or “uh-huh.”
The idea is to give the speaker some proof that you are listening, and that you are following her train of thought—not off indulging in your own fantasies while she talks to the ether.
12. Remember stories
Trust me: you will stand out to your prospects if you remember little hints from the conversation and refer to them later. This applies to anything; from how many people they have on their team to a story about their daughter they told you during the meeting. When you take notes during your conversation, include those personal stories so you can use them when you follow up. Acknowledging these friendly references will help you build up a rapport with your prospects. It really is the little things that make the difference! Self-critique your listening skills and you will realise wherein your conversation aren’t listening well, then you will be able to learn how to fix it.
12 Tips to improve your Active Listening Skills
“Soft skills” are so vital to build effective relationship with prospect clients. It’s easy to respond to customer objections in a F2F meeting, but what about learning how to develop and maintain relationships with prospects? Sales reps need to coach their selves on the art of listening to prospects. It is one of the quickest ways to improve their sales performance. Here are some powerful tips to teach your reps:
1. Face the speaker and maintain eye contact
Do your conversational partners the courtesy of turning to face them. Put aside papers, books, the phone and other distractions. Look at them, even if they don’t look at you. Shyness, uncertainty, shame, guilt, or other emotions, along with cultural taboos, can inhibit eye contact in some people under some circumstances. Excuse the other guy, but stay focused yourself.
2. Be attentive, but relaxed
Now that you’ve made eye contact, relax. You don’t have to stare fixedly at the other person. You can look away now and then and carry on like a normal person. The important thing is to be attentive. To “attend” another person means to:
• be present
• give attention
• apply or direct yourself
• pay attention
• remain ready to serve
3. Keep an open mind
Listen without judging the other person or mentally criticising the things she tells you. If what she says alarms you, go ahead and feel alarmed, but don’t say to yourself, “Well, that was a stupid move.” As soon as you indulge in judgmental bemusements, you’ve compromised your effectiveness as a listener.
Listen without jumping to conclusions!
4. Slow the conversation down
Sales reps tend to be talkative people with lots of ideas and opinions, a characteristic that can sometimes devolve into talking a thousand miles per hour.
Talking clearly and slowly can help build a relationship of trust and understanding with your prospect. They’ll gain interest or get rid of their stress away quick. Articulate your thoughts at a digestible speed. Pause in case they need clarification, ask questions to guide and help shape what they share, and never interrupt them. Which brings me to my next point…
5. Don’t interrupt
Interrupting, means you’ll miss out on something interesting your prospect would have said if you’d given them the chance. They might have had other things to share that would help shape your conversation, but they couldn’t because you interjected. It’s okay to interrupt is if you didn’t hear something or want to clarify. But even then, you may want to make a note of it to clarify later once the person is finished speaking to avoid impeding the flow.
6. Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.
When you don’t understand something, of course, you should ask the speaker to explain it to you. But rather than interrupt, wait until the speaker pauses. Then say something like, “Back up a second. I didn’t understand what you just said about…”
7. Clarify
A big part of listening closely to someone is letting them know you are listening closely. The speaker will know you’re listening and will appreciate it, share more of their story, and they will find you more likeable.
Try repeating their own words to show them you care about what they’re saying, and also to make sure you understood them. Sometimes you might take away a message that was meant to mean something else without knowing it. Don’t let important information get lost in translation.
8. Pay attention to nonverbal cues – Listen to emotions
Words are not always an accurate representation of what a person feels. It can be hard to interpret conversation over the phone because you lose the ability to read a person’s body language, but it is possible. Start by feeling out their tone of voice and stress levels. Practice during your conversations with co-workers and learn to recognise how the volume, speed, and tone of people’s voices can indicate how they’re feeling. On every sales call, make it a goal to think about what the person might be thinking behind their words. If you exclude email, the majority of direct communication is probably nonverbal.
9. Try to feel what the speaker is feeling
If you feel sad when the person with whom you are talking expresses sadness, joyful when she expresses joy, fearful when she describes her fears—and convey those feelings through your facial expressions and words—then your effectiveness as a listener is assured. Empathy is the heart and soul of good listening.
To experience empathy, you have to put yourself in the other person’s place and allow yourself to feel what it is like to be her at that moment. This is not an easy thing to do. It takes energy and concentration. But it is a generous and helpful thing to do, and it facilitates communication like nothing else does.
10. Ask questions
Most sales reps know how important it is to ask questions to narrow down their prospect’s pain points. After all, the true meaning of sales is actively listening to people about their pains and needs and then helping them solve that pain and need. This is especially true at the beginning of the conversation during the information-gathering phase. Spend the first part of your discussion in the meeting asking precise questions to get a grasp of who your prospect is and what their business problems and goals are. Questions that start such as “Tell-me what benefits do you provide to your employees right now,” prompts prospects to tell their stories and share their experiences.
11. Give the speaker regular feedback
Show that you understand where the speaker is coming from by reflecting the speaker’s feelings. “You must be thrilled!” “What a terrible ordeal for you.” “I can see that you are confused.” If the speaker’s feelings are hidden or unclear, then occasionally paraphrase the content of the message. Or just nod and show your understanding through appropriate facial expressions and an occasional well-timed “hmmm” or “uh-huh.”
The idea is to give the speaker some proof that you are listening, and that you are following her train of thought—not off indulging in your own fantasies while she talks to the ether.
12. Remember stories
Trust me: you will stand out to your prospects if you remember little hints from the conversation and refer to them later. This applies to anything; from how many people they have on their team to a story about their daughter they told you during the meeting. When you take notes during your conversation, include those personal stories so you can use them when you follow up. Acknowledging these friendly references will help you build up a rapport with your prospects. It really is the little things that make the difference! Self-critique your listening skills and you will realise wherein your conversation aren’t listening well, then you will be able to learn how to fix it.
12 Tips to improve your Active Listening Skills
“Soft skills” are so vital to build effective relationship with prospect clients. It’s easy to respond to customer objections in a F2F meeting, but what about learning how to develop and maintain relationships with prospects?
Sales reps need to coach their selves on the art of listening to prospects. It is one of the quickest ways to improve their sales performance. Here are some powerful tips to teach your reps:
1. Face the speaker and maintain eye contact
Do your conversational partners the courtesy of turning to face them. Put aside papers, books, the phone and other distractions. Look at them, even if they don’t look at you. Shyness, uncertainty, shame, guilt, or other emotions, along with cultural taboos, can inhibit eye contact in some people under some circumstances. Excuse the other guy, but stay focused yourself.
2. Be attentive, but relaxed
Now that you’ve made eye contact, relax. You don’t have to stare fixedly at the other person. You can look away now and then and carry on like a normal person. The important thing is to be attentive. To “attend” another person means to:
• be present
• give attention
• apply or direct yourself
• pay attention
• remain ready to serve
3. Keep an open mind
Listen without judging the other person or mentally criticising the things she tells you. If what she says alarms you, go ahead and feel alarmed, but don’t say to yourself, “Well, that was a stupid move.” As soon as you indulge in judgmental bemusements, you’ve compromised your effectiveness as a listener.
Listen without jumping to conclusions!
4. Slow the conversation down
Sales reps tend to be talkative people with lots of ideas and opinions, a characteristic that can sometimes devolve into talking a thousand miles per hour.
Talking clearly and slowly can help build a relationship of trust and understanding with your prospect. They’ll gain interest or get rid of their stress away quick. Articulate your thoughts at a digestible speed. Pause in case they need clarification, ask questions to guide and help shape what they share, and never interrupt them. Which brings me to my next point…
5. Don’t interrupt
Interrupting, means you’ll miss out on something interesting your prospect would have said if you’d given them the chance. They might have had other things to share that would help shape your conversation, but they couldn’t because you interjected. It’s okay to interrupt is if you didn’t hear something or want to clarify. But even then, you may want to make a note of it to clarify later once the person is finished speaking to avoid impeding the flow.
6. Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.
When you don’t understand something, of course, you should ask the speaker to explain it to you. But rather than interrupt, wait until the speaker pauses. Then say something like, “Back up a second. I didn’t understand what you just said about…”
7. Clarify
A big part of listening closely to someone is letting them know you are listening closely. The speaker will know you’re listening and will appreciate it, share more of their story, and they will find you more likeable.
Try repeating their own words to show them you care about what they’re saying, and also to make sure you understood them. Sometimes you might take away a message that was meant to mean something else without knowing it. Don’t let important information get lost in translation.
8. Pay attention to nonverbal cues – Listen to emotions
Words are not always an accurate representation of what a person feels. It can be hard to interpret conversation over the phone because you lose the ability to read a person’s body language, but it is possible. Start by feeling out their tone of voice and stress levels. Practice during your conversations with co-workers and learn to recognise how the volume, speed, and tone of people’s voices can indicate how they’re feeling. On every sales call, make it a goal to think about what the person might be thinking behind their words. If you exclude email, the majority of direct communication is probably nonverbal.
9. Try to feel what the speaker is feeling
If you feel sad when the person with whom you are talking expresses sadness, joyful when she expresses joy, fearful when she describes her fears—and convey those feelings through your facial expressions and words—then your effectiveness as a listener is assured. Empathy is the heart and soul of good listening.
To experience empathy, you have to put yourself in the other person’s place and allow yourself to feel what it is like to be her at that moment. This is not an easy thing to do. It takes energy and concentration. But it is a generous and helpful thing to do, and it facilitates communication like nothing else does.
10. Ask questions
Most sales reps know how important it is to ask questions to narrow down their prospect’s pain points. After all, the true meaning of sales is actively listening to people about their pains and needs and then helping them solve that pain and need. This is especially true at the beginning of the conversation during the information-gathering phase. Spend the first part of your discussion in the meeting asking precise questions to get a grasp of who your prospect is and what their business problems and goals are. Questions that start such as “Tell-me what benefits do you provide to your employees right now,” prompts prospects to tell their stories and share their experiences.
11. Give the speaker regular feedback
Show that you understand where the speaker is coming from by reflecting the speaker’s feelings. “You must be thrilled!” “What a terrible ordeal for you.” “I can see that you are confused.” If the speaker’s feelings are hidden or unclear, then occasionally paraphrase the content of the message. Or just nod and show your understanding through appropriate facial expressions and an occasional well-timed “hmmm” or “uh-huh.”
The idea is to give the speaker some proof that you are listening, and that you are following her train of thought—not off indulging in your own fantasies while she talks to the ether.
12. Remember stories
Trust me: you will stand out to your prospects if you remember little hints from the conversation and refer to them later. This applies to anything; from how many people they have on their team to a story about their daughter they told you during the meeting. When you take notes during your conversation, include those personal stories so you can use them when you follow up. Acknowledging these friendly references will help you build up a rapport with your prospects. It really is the little things that make the difference! Self-critique your listening skills and you will realise wherein your conversation aren’t listening well, then you will be able to learn how to fix it.