The Acid Test of Listening
Paraphrase Your Customer's Words
The customer is only sure that you have been
listening when you paraphrase what the prospect has said and feed it back in
your own words. This is where the rubber meets the road in effective listening.
This is where you demonstrate in no uncertain terms to the prospect that your
listening has been real and sincere. This is where you show the prospect that
you were paying complete attention to what he or she was saying. Paraphrasing
is how you prove it.
Question for Clarification
When the prospect has finished explaining his or her
situation to you, and you have paused, and then questioned for clarification,
you paraphrase the prospects primary thoughts and concerns, and feed them back
to him or her in your own words.
Use the Right Words
For example, you might say, "Let me make sure I
understand exactly what you are saying. It sounds to me like you are concerned
about two things more than anything else, and that in the past you have had a
couple of experiences that have made you very careful in approaching a decision
of this kind."
Feed it Back Accurately
You then go on to feed back to the prospect exactly
what he or she has told you, pausing and questioning for clarification as you
go, until the customer says words to the effect of, "Yes, that's it! You've
got it exactly."
Earn the Right to Sell
Only when you and the customer completed a thorough
"examination" and have mutually agreed on the "diagnosis"
you are in a position to begin talking to the customer about your product or
service. In general terms, this means that you can not pull out your brochures
and price lists and begin telling the customer how your product or service can
solve his problems or achieve his goals until about seventy percent of the way
through the sales conversation. Until then, you have not yet earned the right.
Until then, you don't even know enough to begin an intelligent presentation
without embarrassing yourself.
Be a Good Listener
The more and better you listen, the more and better
people will like you, trust you and want to do business with you. The more they
will want to get involved with you as a person and the more popular you will be
with them. Excellent listeners are welcome everywhere, in every walk of life,
and they eventually and ultimately arrive at the top of their fields.
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do immediately to put
these ideas into action.
First, remember that your first job in the sale is
to get the customer to like you and believe that you understand his situation. Paraphrasing
is the way you accomplish this.
Second, be sure that the customer agrees with you
completely when you feed back his concerns to him. Only then can you really start
selling.
