Against all the accepted stereotypes that exist about sales people it is a fact that the best and richest sales people prefer to listen than to talk, shocking isn‘t it? Rather it is the cheap, brash salesman at the lower end of the sales gene pool that dominate the talking.

Listening has often been called ‘white magic’ because of the effect it has on the listener. It exerts an almost magical effect on the listener and the relationship. It causes people to open up and to relax and for us most importantly they tell us about themselves.

If you the sales man are an excellent listener the customer will feel open and secure. They buy from people they trust.

There is no faster way for us to gain the customers trust than to listen intently, and show we are listening. The reverse of this is also true, the quickest way to irritate a customer is to talk too much and listen too little.

Listening will lower the natural tension and defensiveness of the customer. It will diminish the nervousness the customers feel when faced with buying decisions.

It is said rapt attention is the highest form of flattery. When you listen intently to another person and it is clear you are genuinely interested in them, his esteem will go up, they will feel good about them selves.

The opposite of listening is ignoring.

You listen and understand at about the rate of 500 to 600 words a minute but the average person speaks at the rate of 125 to 150 words per minute. This means that two thirds of your thinking time is free to think of other things.

When you know the customer and his true emotional agenda, you can present your product in such a way that addresses his true concerns.

To be a good skilful listener comes from you as a salesperson be genuinely interested in your customers, not just the commission you will make from them. You can not blag or fake philanthropy, but you can develop it.

In our seminars we spend a lot of time learning how to develop active listen skills.

This is not done to trick the customer into believing that we are interested in them when were not, it is to help sales people learn to care about their customers wants and needs and to give them the skills to show that to them.

Why not attend one of our seminars so you can further develop your communication skills? Click here for details ,  Click here to see another free article.