Close More Sales With Active Listening
If you've ever suspected that the best sales people are doing something you aren't
, then you're right. No, you don't need to pay thousands of dollars for sales bootcamps or seminars to learn some esoteric secret. One of the most important selling skills there is can be learned in just a few minutes and mastered with practice on the job.
Want to know what Active Listening is, where it came from, and how to learn it? Then, read on...
WHO COINED THE TERM?
The term "Active Listening" was coined by the clinical psychologist Dr. Thomas Gordon in his book, "Leader Effectiveness Training." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Gordon_(psychologist). He was a colleague and student of Dr. Carl Rogers- who's theories and therapeutic methods are today part of the psychology course load of any major university.
While Dr. Rogers confined himself to the academic and clinical worlds, Dr. Gordon popularized Active Listening for teachers, leaders, as well as sales people with his "Gordon Method."
These days, you can't crack open a sales manual or book without seeing some application or other of Active Listening- even if it isn't described as such.
WHAT IS ACTIVE LISTENING?
In essence, whenever you engage in Active Listening you cut down your side of the dialogue and instead encourage the other party to keep talking with phrases such as, "go on," "tell me more," and the infamous, "how does that make you feel?"
Of course, there's much more to it. But, you get the idea.
In a clinical setting, Active Listening is employed to help the patient move through a progression of self-discovery and realization. This is much more compelling than simply telling someone what is wrong with them- which may or may not be accepted and acted upon.
Nobody likes being told they're wrong, what to think, or what to do- well, most people don't.
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO SALES?
Some of the greatest breakthroughs occur when learning in one discipline is applied in another. The incorporation of therapeutic Active Listening principles to sales was one such moment.
It's been a while since I read through his Spin Selling book, but glancing through it again and checking the index I see no mention of Active Listening, Dr. Rogers or Dr. Gordon. I'm not saying that he knowingly borrowed without crediting where credit was due, but the parallels are remarkable.
But I digress...
"The more you tell, the more you sell" just doesn't wash in today's world of sophisticated and impatient buyers- at least when it comes to in-person or over-the-telephone sales.
HOW DOES ACTIVE LISTENING WORK?
In his article, "The Power of the Language of Acceptance," (http://www.gordontraining.com/The_Power_of_the_Language_of_Acceptance.html), Dr. Gordon explains quite succinctly the purpose of Active Listening:
"It is one of those simple but beautiful paradoxes of life: When a person feels that he is truly accepted by another, as he is, then he is freed to move from there and to begin to think about how he wants to change, how he wants to grow, how he can become different, how he might become more of what he is capable of being."
Can you see the power of this?
Just by becoming a better listener, you can dramatically increase your persuasiveness.
Active Listening helps you move stubborn, skeptical, and closed-minded prospects to a more receptive and open state of mind.
Instead of talking at them and TELLING your prospects what they need, help them get there own their own- with a little guidance and prompting from you. Best of all, you'll have less objections to worry about. After all, how can they argue with their own logic?
HOW TO LEARN ACTIVE LISTENING?
While Dr. Gordon considered becoming an effective active listener to be a difficult undertaking, I find that with simple exercises repeated over time, it can become second nature to almost anyone with an open mind to learning new things.
If you take the initiative to learn more about Active Listening, you can quite easily become overwhelmed by the breadth and scope of the topic. But, in reality, you actually only need to learn a handful of techniques.
Parroting, paraphrasing, and feeling feedback (reflecting) make up the core of Active Listening.
Once mastered, these three techniques will make a big difference in your sales success.
To round off your Active Listening skills, add Universal Questions and the 6 Ws to your repetoire.
by: adamvfoaol
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