There’s
a reason why the best salespeople talk only 10 percent of the time.
Last
month’s article dealt with the art of asking questions as a way to build
knowledge of customers’ wants and needs. There is a second part to that
equation. Asking all the right questions will get you nowhere unless you
develop careful listening skills.
Listening is more than just keeping quiet. Listening requires you to train your
brain to focus on the speaker instead of on yourself or your
surroundings.
It may sound easy, but listening is hard work. You may be working in an area
bombarded with jobsite sounds or from people talking on a phone. There may be
noise from radios, traffic, construction or office equipment and extraneous
conversations. We’ve learned to tune out most of it as background noise. Our
aural processing systems don’t always work to perfection, unfortunately. Distractions
sometimes cause us to tune out stuff that matters.
We also succumb to impatience. The average person speaks at about 135 words to
175 words a minute, but a listener can process 400 words to 500 words a minute.
People have a tendency to fill the extra time, daydreaming or anticipating what
the speaker will say next. Doing this may short-circuit the communication and
distort the message. We end up interpreting what we think the speaker will say.
We are born with the ability to hear, but hearing is not the same thing as
listening. Hearing is to listening what holding a scalpel is to performing
surgery. Hearing is a passive activity that comes naturally, while listening
requires training and motivation. You really have to want to understand what
the other person is saying.
Your motivation comes from wanting to be the best you can be at your job and
succeed in your business. Once motivated, here are some tips to help you master
the art of listening.
Maintain eye contact. Looking people in the eye shows respect, and helps
maintain focus on what’s being said.
Ask questions. Asking questions forces you to concentrate on listening. Get in
the habit of asking speakers to clarify or elaborate things you don’t fully
understand. This not only helps you to listen, it also will help you to learn
things.
Take notes. Even if you never refer to these notes, the act of writing things
down on paper forces you to concentrate on what the other party is saying. It
also helps lock the information in your mind. The notes don’t have to be
detailed – just jot down key words, phrases and numbers. People speak much
faster than anyone can write. If you try to write down every word that’s said,
you will lose track of the conversation and miss some of the speaker’s main
points.
Get rid of distractions.Avoid the temptation to multi-task by doing paperwork,
checking e-mail, etc., while someone is talking to you. Don’t try to answer
another incoming call on a different line. This really is aggravating to the
other party. Leave it to the phone receptionist or voicemail to take a callback
message.
Interject. From time to time during a long conversation, make brief comments
such as: “I understand … I see what you’re saying.” It helps you to stay alert,
and also shows the speaker that you are paying attention.
Don’t interject your own thoughts. Make sure the other party is finished
talking before you venture an opinion or explanation. Some people have trouble
getting to the point. Give them time to tell you what they want to say in their
own way, although it’s OK to move the conversation along by asking questions.
Don’t rehearse a response. Listen to the full message. Only respond after the
other person has finished talking. There may be key information not revealed
until near the end.
Pause. After the other party finishes talking, pause for a few seconds before
responding. The other person might be pausing just to catch a breath or
formulate other remarks. Pausing also allows you a chance to soak up and retain
what’s been said, as well as collect your thoughts.
Sit at the end of your chair. Being too comfortable promotes daydreaming. When
speaking on the phone, try to assume the same businesslike posture you would if
you were meeting the person face-to-face. This will help make you more
attentive.
Tune in to unspoken messages. A famous study has shown that only 7 percent of
communication gets conveyed by spoken words. Facial expressions and body
language account for 55 percent, with the other 38 percent coming through in
one’s tone of voice. Over the phone, you will not have access to the visual
information, but you will to the 38 percent of information conveyed by tone of
voice. This means that it’s not enough to listen only to what people say. It’s
important to pick up on how they say it. They may be trying to tell you
something, but don’t know how, or are uncomfortable saying it. For example, a
person may not want to get someone in trouble by criticizing performance. Yet,
tone of voice often will reveal this information as the root of a
problem.
I’ve stated several times in these last two articles that it’s important to
learn as much as possible about a customer’s business. You learn nothing by
talking; you can learn everything by listening.
Most people adhere to the stereotype of salespeople as being glib fast-talkers.
To the contrary, the best sales professionals only will talk about 10 percent
of the time. They will listen to what the customer is saying the other 90
percent.
As Abraham Lincoln once said, “’Tis better to be silent and thought a fool,
than to speak and remove all doubt.”
ND
Smart Business: Master the Art of Listening
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