I’m a great believer that listening is an art, that good listening skills are learnt, and that effective listening is a critical factor in building relationships with customers. Indeed, relationships are the cornerstone of robust, growing and successful businesses!
In any interaction with customers listening is critical, given it is only through active and effective listening that you can get any real information about the company, your contact, their requirements etc.
Active listening skills, for example, include paying attention to what someone else is saying, showing that you are listening, giving feedback, refraining from judgement and responding respectfully.
Most business owners aren’t natural salespeople, BUT if you are a good listener and a patient one that will encourage people to open up. The more they open up the more you can build a close relationship with them.
Frankly, the key to effective selling though has always been getting the customer to like you.
Back in the mists of time I read a good definition of listening, namely: “active listening skills include paying attention to what someone else is saying, showing that you are listening, giving feedback, refraining from judgement and responding respectfully.”
So here are some things I’ve learnt about listening over my decades in business – let’s just call them: Rules for effective listening
- Prepare yourself – understand a little about the customer/company/role before you go into the meeting
- Be interested in the person you are going to meet
- Knowledge – know exactly what you have to do to get their business
- Actually, listen to what they are saying, don’t interrupt and don’t assume. Ask for clarification if you don’t understand something (or to emphasise that you are taking them seriously!)
- Don’t presume to know what they might mean (think how annoyed your spouse gets when you finish their sentence or thought)
- Be open – if they use technical or colloquial language ask for an explanation if you don’t understand
- NO closed questions – people get agitated if they feel boxed in and ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions can leave a person with nowhere to go. The best way to get information is by asking what, why, when, how, who? Open questions also lead to further conversation and conversation is the necessary mortar for building the bricks of a relationship
- BIG questions – I like big questions because they give the customer the chance to brag a little about their objective or project. Typical questions might include: What do you want to achieve with this campaign? Why are you looking at this market segment? or How significant could this be for your company?
The bigger and more open the question and the more information you get, the more interest you show in the proposition and the more time you will spend ‘in discussions’ with the client – so nurturing that relationship
- Have a process – create a series of questions that enable you to understand what your client needs – it will require some work and maybe some research BUT rest assured most competitors won’t do this (laziness) so you will be one step ahead of them AND the client will be impressed that you made the effort
Finally,
- A Columbo moment – ask yourself: What else could I have asked?
I would love to make this really sexy BUT rules simply are not. They are a guide and an aide to better business practice.
