Effective Listening Techniques

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But to a top salesperson, listening starts with a strong approach to questioning. To get the most relevant information from your customer, you must ask effective questions. Challenge your client with questions that will make them think. Force them to divulge valuable information that you can later tie to your value statement.

There are two types of questions you can ask a customer.

• Open Ended Questions They are questions that require more than a yes or no answer and they usually start with; How…? What…? Why…?
• Close Ended Questions They are questions that can give the customer an “easy out” with a simple yes or no answer. They usually start with; Is…? Would…? Do…? Are…?

As a salesperson you need to connect your value statement to the business needs of your customer. The better you understand their needs, the stronger your sales engagement will be. This is why you need a solid questioning strategy coupled with effective listening techniques.

Open ended questions are of tremendous value for salespeople. By getting your clients to think about the “why” the “how” or the “what”, you will get better insight into their business. If the client chooses to answer, they have no choice but to share information that could be of tremendous value to your selling effort.

In contrast, close ended questions can be conversation killers. Not only do you make it easy for the customer to dismiss your inquiries, but you don’t give yourself a chance for additional insight.

Close ended questions have their place, but generally speaking, open ended questioning will provide you much more valuable information. Look at the examples below.

Your Question: Do you have any challenges with your customer relationship management strategy?

Possible Customer Answer: NO

Open

Your Question: What are the top three challenges your company is experiencing with your customer relationship management strategy?

Possible Customer Answer: The data quality within our current system makes it very difficult for our customer facing employees….

Your Question: Do you have any requirements for the proposed hardware?

Possible Customer Answer: NO

Open

Your Question: How many units of the proposed hardware will you require and what timeframe will meet your business objectives?

Possible Customer Answer: Based on our budget cycle we will require 350 units in April and another 300...

A strong questioning strategy coupled with effective listening techniques will provide you with a great wealth of information. Leverage the information you learn from the client to enhance your value statement. Do it well and your competition will be on the outside looking in.

Thanks for reading.

Good selling.

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