Why is listening the most important skill you have to learn in sales?

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Probing Questions – Listen up!

© 2007 David Peterson

I was asked this question yesterday… “When interviewing a candidate for a telesales position what are the three most important skills they must be good at?” 

My answers are: 

1. They must be a good listener

2. They have to be good at rapport building

3. They have to be good at probing for their prospect’s needs

I’m going to skip the rapport building for this chapter and just focus on #1 – they must be a good listener and #3 – they have to be good at probing for their prospect’s needs.

I am a firm believer that if you just take the time to talk in a conversational manner with prospects they will tell you what they need. There is a science and a bit of an art to probing for needs but in the end if you do it right you will hear everything you need to know to advance through to the next step in the sales cycle.

The issue lies in “hearing” what the customer actually said. Most average sales representatives are not really listening. The average rep is more interested in asking quick questions and trying to get to the close. So even though they “sort of” took the time to ask a few questions they were not really interested in the answers.

These are harsh statements…

Not really interested in asking probing questions and not really interested in hearing the answers.

The average sales representatives reading the statement above will probably have taken offense to those words. I'm sorry to tell you the statement is true. Only professional sales representatives will ask great questions and have the listening ability to tie those questions back into their eventual pitch.

Here is how the conversation goes:

Average Sales Rep: Mr. Jones what do you like about your current product and what would you like to change if you could?

Mr. Jones: The product is always up and never fails me. It is there when I need it! It can be a bit slow when a couple of users get on the system.

Average Sales Rep: Mr. Jones I have been calling you for two years and you know through all of our literature and the trust you have in our company that our product is just as reliable as your current one.
Mr. Jones: I know and I agree about your reliability but I just can’t purchase it right now.

Don’t laugh – I bet every sales manager reading this runs across this same mistake at least 3 times a week.

Here is how the conversation should go:

Professional Sales Rep: Mr. Jones what do you like about your current product and what would you like to change if you could?
Mr. Jones: The product is always up and never fails me. It is there when I need it! It can be a bit slow when a couple of users get on the system.

Professional Sales Rep: Mr. Jones I agree that reliability is the #1 benefit of these types of products but may I ask you a couple other questions about the slowness of the system?

Mr. Jones: Go ahead.

Professional Sales Rep: All of these products are built to be fast so in your own words how slow is too slow? How do the other users feel about the speed of the system?

You could ask 50 questions on just the speed of the system if you wanted to… My point is the average representative took the time to ask the open ended question but didn’t bother to listen to the answer given.

Listen Up!

Listening is a skill. You have to learn it. I don’t think you are born with this skill. You are born with the sense of hearing not the skill of listening.

Again I’m firm believer that if you just ask enough questions the prospect will tell you what they need.

What the average sales representatives need to be coached on is the fact that they are missing these answers. The coaching is needed because the average rep doesn’t know they are bad at listening. They don’t know that they are missing important information. It has to be proven to them. 

To get better at this listening skill all sales representatives have to listen to their own recorded calls and they have to do roll plays. 

Recorded calls and roll plays are not the favorite activities for sales representatives. Nobody likes to hear their own voice. And I haven’t met a rep yet that is just waiting to do the next roll play.

Sales representatives have to do these types of coaching even though they don’t like it.

If enough coaching is done the representatives will get accustomed to listening to their own voice. They will not immediately hear their own mistakes. Sales managers will need to be available for this coaching. The sales manager will need to stop the recording and back it up - sometimes over and over again to literally point out the information provided by the prospect. Listening really is a learned skill. 

Once the average rep understands they missed the answer then the sales manager can roll play on how the conversation should have gone. Such role plays would include what should the next question be? Also what happens if the answer creates a new objection?

The bottom line is prospects tell all sales representatives what they need. The professional sales representative is receptive to the answer they hear. The average sales representative never hears the answer.

In terms of listening skills, how do you know if you are an average sales rep or a professional sales rep? 

Here is my answer: 

If you find yourself probing and probing then pitching and pitching and not closing like the top sales rep in your division then I bet you never heard what the prospect said in the first place. That means you are average at best in this skill.

Stop, ask your sales manager for help. Listen to your own calls so you can learn from your mistakes. Hearing is one of the 5 senses, listening is something you have to learn. 

Sincerely,

David A. Peterson

Author of: 

Been There - Done That

David Peterson's Search Engine Optimization Guide

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