Sales - Speak After Listening Equals Success

It always bothers me when people tell me I could sell ice cream to an Eskimo.  I guess this bothers me because it applies I can trick them into buying something they don’t want.  Being successful at sales, starts with listening.  Most people like to talk about how great their product or company is.  The best sales people understand they are there because the consumer is looking for something.  They never assume they know why.  People buy for different reasons.  The more information you gather from the consumer the easier it is to serve them not sell them.  The salesperson’s role is to educate the consumer, but not just educate.  Successful salespeople quickly identify what the consumer wants to know.  Again the closer you listen the easier this is to identify.  Don’t just hear what they are saying, but listen and understand them.  As the salesperson educates the consumer he or she is adding value to the product or service.  Most fail to realize this also adds to their value. 

I still remember my first lead after starting our business.  The client had a walkway going down their property line to the neighborhood park.  The first thing they said to me was, they want a hedge the entire way down the path.  At this point I had a choice to make.  I could be an order taker or a design / salesperson.  I ask them, why do you want a hedge?  It wasn’t because I didn’t know the answer.  I wanted them to see the thought process that good designer’s use.  After they told me it was to screen the people walking, I followed with another question.  Would you be open to another suggestion to screen the people?  Of course, they said.  I suggested a naturalized planting that you couldn’t see through.  We also identified that most of the traffic happens in the summer when the deciduous trees have their leaves.  We scattered, hemlocks, river birches, viburnums, rhododendrons, azaleas and an assortment of perennials.  I tell this story because I just didn’t let the client talk, but I tried to understand them.  Listening helped me truly satisfy the client with something they never would have come up with themselves.  In the end the client saw more value while spending more.