You’ll never know how to answer the question if you haven’t heard the question! And if you think selling means talking, you’re in deep trouble.
Ask any successful person and you’ll find out that they spend 80% of their time listening and only 20% of their time providing solutions. So if you expect to become successful in life, becoming a better listener should be a top priority.
Effective listening requires the development of three skills:
- Attending: This means showing you’re paying attention, appropriate body position, eye contact and taking notes.
- Following: Staying on track with what your customer saying. This includes asking linking questions and displaying empathy by saying words like, “I understand.”
- Reflecting: This means you’ve heard what they’ve said. This includes reviewing, paraphrasing and feedback it back.
Becoming an effective listener is vital to building trust. And building customer trust is essential to providing solutions.
