Are you Listening?
Robert M. Gignac
Taynac & Associates
54 Crawford Rose Drive
Aurora, Ontario
L4G 4R4
(905) 841-0837
As entrepreneurs and SMEs the key to our survival
is the ability to sell our products and ourselves. Since we are always looking
for ways to increase our sales, let me offer one that is virtually foolproof:
start listening to our customers. From the clients I have spoken with recently,
it appears that it happens so rarely; a competitive edge will be gained by
doing it.
Please don’t confuse the act of listening with the
idea that it is easy. On the contrary, it is sometimes the hardest part of the
selling process. Why? Too many other things get in our way.
We know exactly what is best for our customers -
don’t we? Sometimes we are actually right. But being right doesn’t mean you’ll
get their business. Listening involves hearing what the customers’ needs are
and meeting those needs. If you hammer away on your “better” solution to the
exclusion of the customers’ needs, and more importantly their wants, don’t be
surprised when you don’t get their business.
We really don’t know what is best for them all the
time. We can’t know. There are too many variables and factors that are
invisible to us, things we are completely unaware of. I’m not saying that we
shouldn’t help our customers do things better and more effectively. I try to do
that with all my customers - but that happens only after we have managed to
build and establish a relationship. When we are selling, our focus must be on
determining what our customers want, and if it is possible for us to deliver,
then we need to deliver it.
Early in any business relationship we sometimes
confuse our needs with their needs, especially at a time when we may be
desperate to make that next sale. What we think should be important to our
customers, isn’t, and the more we tell them what is important, the more their
eyes glaze over. When that happens, you’ll lose your opportunity.
So what is the goal with all this listening? Just
to get the sale? No. When we take the time to listen more, and worry less about
making the sale, something interesting happens. We make our customers feel heard, responded to, and more
importantly, understood. It leaves them with the feeling that we care about
doing the right thing for them - not for us. When you reach that level of
understanding with your customers, the sales will follow.
In many ways, it is like playing catch with your
customer. Playing catch involves two people (or more…) tossing the ball back
and forth. As salespeople we sometimes want to play “pitch” only - talking
about features, benefits, and how great it will be for our customer - if they’d
only listen to us. It is only when we take the time to listen to them that we
get the ball back. Listen to what they are saying, look for the clues, and pay
close attention to what they don’t say as well.
The things that can be the most important to our
customers can be inconceivable to us. Avoiding preconceptions when we try to
sell is hard; we always think we know what’s best. It has been said many times
that the best salespeople ask the best questions - but that is only partly
true. The best salespeople ask the best questions - and then they take the time
to actually listen to the answer.
Listening can be hard, but it can make the selling
easier. How? It lets you tell your customers what they want to hear. I’m not
talking about misleading them, or promising things that you can’t deliver. Take
the time to emphasize how your products and services meet the needs they told
you they had. When you use the information you learned while you were listening
you’ll need to do less pitching. You’ll be able to focus on what is important
to them. When you pay attention your customers will tell you what you need to
say.
Perhaps we have been given two ears and one mouth
for a reason. Could it be that we should be listening twice as much as we talk?
Are you listening?
Bio:
Robert
Gignac is the owner of Taynac & Associates, providing keynote speeches,
seminars and workshops on personal development, motivation, and leadership. To
book Robert to speak at your next event, please contact him at: rgignac@taynac.com or check their website
at www.taynac.com.
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2003 - Taynac & Associates