Listening to Your Client

Listening isn’t easy--studies reveal that we retain a tiny percentage of what we hear--but it’s a critical skill for any salesperson.

You can ask your client brilliantly incisive questions to determine their needs. But these are worth little if you don’t listen to their responses. Listening isn’t easy--studies reveal that we retain a tiny percentage of what we hear--but it’s a critical skill for any salesperson.

Always ask if it’s OK to take notes and show respect for confidentiality. Clients will rarely decline and will probably be flattered that you want to record what they say. Active listening is a structured form of listening that focuses attention on the speaker. A listener consciously attends fully to the speaker and then repeats in their own words what he or she thinks the speaker has said, often interpreting the speaker’s words in terms of feelings.

ACTON POINT: Listen actively to your customers responses to questions.