Everyone knows how important it is to make eye contact when selling face-to-face. Eyes, being the windows to the soul and all, are a powerful vehicle to connect with another human being. Since prospects are human beings, this works out to everybody's advantage.
But equally important as eye contact is ear contact. If eyes are the windows to the soul, than ears are the heartbeat of the soul.
Do you sell using your ears as much as your eyes? Are your ears a finely tuned instrument? Does listening play as important a role in your interactions with your prospects and customers as your eyesight? And your voice?
The next time you are interacting with a prospect in a face-to-face selling situation, pay attention to how well you use your hearing, listening for nuance in communication, listening for meanings rather than just words, and listening for unique speech patterns and your prospect's choices of words. All of the data your ears pick up can be used to better understand your prospect and his needs and buying requirements. And the next time you're speaking with your prospect on the phone, shut your eyes to shut of visual stimulation (or distraction) so you can zero in on the clues being presented to you aurally.
Eyes aren't overrated. But ears are underated in selling. What better way is there to engage your customers than by actually listening to them?
If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies that sell to consumers in all B2C sectors to increase sales by leveraging the buying potential of every prospect and shopper.
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