I worked full time for over 45 years, and I can honestly say that during that period, my most satisfying work was the time spent training salespeople. Many would posit that this is not the most honorable work; I respectfully disagree. Too often the perception by the public is that salespeople are out for themselves and couldn’t care less about you or your needs. Unfortunately, that is true with some salespeople but that was not my experience with most of my salespeople. When I found that I was working with a salesperson that wanted to “splain” information to a customer instead of explaining facts, we would give them the opportunity to “splain” at another company (they would be fired). By “splain” I mean that they would “skim over” some important details or intentionally mislead someone in order to make the sale and get their commission. As you can probably tell, I am somewhat passionate about this because “splainers” discredit a whole group of professional salespeople and their propensity to “splain” tarnish many great men and women!
What do the great salespeople do differently – they listen and understand! The great salespeople find solutions to issues and improve their customers’ lives or business. Too often we hear someone say, “He’s a natural born salesman”. Now – what is meant by that? Usually, it means that the salesperson is a “good talker”. I contend that most good salespeople are at best “average talkers” but, at the same time, they are superior listeners – let me explain by giving a simple example. You enter the car dealership and are greeted by a professional car salesperson. The conversation may go something like this:
- Joe (car salesperson) – “Thanks for coming in today, my name is Joe – how can I help you?”
- “I am considering getting a new car and wanted to see some of your models.”
- Joe – “What type of car do you currently drive?”
- “I have a 2018 Nissan Rogue.”
- Joe – “When you purchased the Rogue, what helped you make that decision?”
- “The car fit into my budget, and I was looking for a car that could comfortably seat my family and could tow our camper.”
- Joe – “So what would be the number of seats you need for your family and what type of towing capacity do you currently have and how is that working for you?”
- “The towing capacity is adequate for our current camper but as our family is growing, we may need a larger camper and more seating in our next car.”
Certainly, I could keep on going with this example but let’s just take a look at the information gathered thus far. At this point, Joe knows the following:
- The year and make of the current car
- Budget might be a consideration
- The family is growing and there may be a need for additional seating
- The family seems to enjoy camping.
- The family might be needing a new camper so towing capacity might be important.
At this point in the process Joe can begin to eliminate some models on the lot and he can start to zero in on a few models that might serve the family well going forward. A GREAT sales trainer that inspired me was Tom Hopkins. Hopkins stressed the need to listen first before making a recommendation. He suggested not only listening but, in addition, making certain that you clearly understood what was being said. He would encourage the following steps in active listening: Hear Them Out – Feed it Back – Question It. So, what did Hopkins mean by these three steps? Hear Them Out – Hopkins encouraged us to actively listen. Feed it Back – Hopkins wants us to make certain we understood what we thought we heard. Question It – Hopkins wants us to understand the reason why this is important.
Now let’s take this sales training lesson and see how we can use it in your “non-sales” daily life. If you were engaged in a conversation with someone that viewed an issue differently than how you viewed that same issue – let’s apply Hopkin’s system. Hear Them Out – give them a chance to make their point (don’t interrupt). Feed it Back – after they are finished speaking, respond by repeating what was said to make certain that you understood their thought. Question It – here you are asking for clarification, you are not challenging; you are looking to understand. If we used this technique in our daily lives, we would learn from each other and probably make a friend in the process. Now – a real life and sensitive example:
Conversation:
“I really cannot vote for Donald J. Trump.” (Hear Them Out)
“So – you will not be voting for Trump?” (Feed it Back)
“Can you tell me why you cannot support Trump?”(Question It)
Imagine for a moment that this conversation was to take place – truth is, this conversation could be quite civil and informative. That is something that would probably be a learning experience and maybe, just maybe, you could make a friend by showing respect and courtesy.
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