All too often we hear sales and marketing professionals talking about giving the perfect sales presentation. The dream is to make just that right pitch where the prospect turns into a buyer without a single objection. Like many dreams, the sales talk dream isn’t likely true either.
In fact, more sales and marketing benefit can be achieved by listening than by talking. More customers can be added to your business, simply by becoming a better listener.
Hearing what your prospects have to say, and then helping them solve their problems, will not only make the sale this time. It will often keep a customer for your business for a lifetime.
Are you listening now?
Let the customers speak
One potential problem, lurking stealthily in every business office, is the concept of believing the business management knows best. Unfortunately, while the executives and owners might take that idea as an article of faith, the buying public might not be so reverent.
Today’s customers expect to be heard, and their needs and desires met. If not, they will quickly move to another supplier. A business ignores their customers at their own peril.
When designing new products, it’s a good idea to survey existing and prospective customers for their opinions. Find out what is good about your product line, and what is missing, will assist in the design of new product lines, and improving existing ones.
Moving beyond the standard focus groups, often required to choose between only company pre-ordained options, is simply good business. Many of the best product ideas will arrive from conversations with customers.
Don’t sweep customer complaints under the rug. While it’s true that not all complaints are reasonable or well founded, the majority of cases are sending your business a clear message. They may be saying your products, services, customer care, or online or offline premises are not meeting their needs. Failure to listen to customers means loss of business revenue. One solution to the listening dilemma, is to create a customer service blog, to address complaints and problems openly and honestly with current and potential customers
All too often sales staff are sent out to find buyers for products and services, armed only with a script and some hazy product knowledge. Well down the list of requirements are thoughts of building satisfied customers. After all, the products need to be sold, and the sales representatives need to sell, or face unemployment. Such tactics are short sighted and fail in the long run.
Training your sales staff to listen to the needs and wishes of the customers will not only help them keep their jobs, but enhance your business bottom line. When the sales pitch emphasises red widgets and the customer is only concerned with whether the widget is oval and not round, sales will be few and far between. The goal of your sales staff should be to help customers reach cost effective solutions to their near and long term business problems. Teach your sales team to think of themselves as problems solvers, and as partners in achieving greater business success for the client companies.
A much better sales presentation than a standard canned speech is a series of open ended questions, with each one finding out more about the prospect and her requirements. Stopping the talking for a moment, and listening to the prospect will help to fulfil those needs.
Sometimes, the best sales presentation is simply to remain silent for the moment. People dislike lulls in the conversation and will fill in the dead air with information. With the prospective client's help in finding their real needs, a mutually beneficial solution can be found. The company's overall sales totals will rise in harmony with the number of happy and satisfied customers.
Listening to prospects helps both the sales business, and the client company, to hear the cash register ring up greater profits.
