Sales Leadership

What Blocks Active Listening (part 1)?

Recently I was in a discussion with a small group of highly successful sales leaders.  As I listened to their stories for the first thirty minutes I witnessed common patterns I see sales leaders / sales people struggle with.

1. Exploring new possibilities through powerful questions and staying present to the conversation through active listening (not planning or thinking of your next question)
2. Not realizing how stories keep us locked into language and emotions that block us from seeing what other possibilities exist
3. Feeling like you have to go into a sales call with: an agenda YOU drive and make a sale

So let’s examine what some of the potential barriers to active listening are as we review the first item noted above.

Exploring new possibilities through powerful questions and staying present to the conversation through active listening (not planning or thinking of your next question)

How many of you are experiencing change in your current industry?  Just a few places we can look are in healthcare, finance, banking and real estate.  For a variety of reasons, the landscape in these industries is changing quickly.  Is it possible that your products or services no longer command the same loyalty they once did?  How about brand recognition?  Does it drive customers to you the way it once did and open the same doors?

My guess is your Value Proposition is also changing as clients are looking beyond your products and services as they face new challenges that are going unmet.  So how can powerful questions and active listening help you?

My experience with this is simple.  The more you can find out about your client without trying to control or plan the conversation, the better chance you have of HEARING what they are saying and discovering what their needs are.  So often we forget a very crucial step in the sales process, identified as the Needs Analysis.  In this area we try to accomplish the following:

• Understand the customer’s needs through interviews, questions and active listening
• Discover what a client would like to improve and what is most important to them
• Evaluate the information and review possible solutions that feed your Value Proposition and proposal

While our goal is to always be selling, it’s also important to note that clients actually enjoy talking about themselves; their problems and what it would mean to them if you helped solved their problems.  Through powerful questions, active listening and staying present with them during the entire course of the conversation, you have a chance to find and bring value to them that you may not have discovered. 

How would this approach help support you, especially if your industry or market is changing?  When have you discovered new information during a sales call simply by listening and probing?  How good are you at identifying people’s problems and providing value they’re willing to pay for by solving their problems?

John Brambert is the President of Trinity Performance Group, a team of seasoned Executive Coaches trained in the leading worldwide coaching programs. Trinity Performance Group’s goal is to provide a wide range of executive coaching, leadership and team development, and related services to our clients.  See More in John>