All
Ears
Listening
with Everything
By
Jeffrey Hansler, CSP
People
who listen have a wonderful understanding of life.
Most of us forget to listen and are merely waiting for an
opportunity to talk. In doing so, we miss important
information being shared with us from the person with whom
we are interacting.
It
is said that the Plains Indians could drive a stick in the
ground and hear a herd of buffalo up to 20 miles away.
The tone of the stick vibrations indicated the size of the
herd. By bending the stick and listening carefully,
they could tell the direction of the buffalo herd.
Actively
listening to a prospect provides the same critical
information about a prospect's mental distance from a
decision, how big of a decision they are willing to make,
and from what direction they need to be approached to come
to a decision.
Active
listening successfully communicates to a prospect that you
are indeed listening. This provides encouragement to
continue talking. Active listening involves body
language such
as nodding of the head and eye contact. It involves
repeating trailers of what was just said, and it involves
asking questions related to what was said.
The
most important activity to be an effective listener is to
ask questions about previous decisions. The answers to
questions about what solutions were used in the past, how
they worked, and what else would have been desirable,
provide the information for a salesperson to narrow in on
the one or two most important features of interest to the
prospect.
Which
brings us to the final point. If you're talking, you
can't be listening. Listening saves time and energy
for the prospect and the salesperson, and just like the
Plains Indians, active listening puts meat on the table.
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Jeffrey
Hansler is a professional speaker, author, and consultant.
He is a frequent speaker at association events and is the
author of Sell Little Red Hen! Sell! He can be reached at jhansler@oxfordco.com.
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©
2004 Jeffrey Hansler All rights reserved |
