Some people are not naturally good at listening, and most people love to talk. That’s okay; it’s just the way some of us are built. However, if we want to become good business people, we need to learn how to listen appropriately.
Listening without Commentary
Really listening means we aren’t just biting back all of the comments we want to say. The moment we think of something we want to say and sit there biting it back is the moment we stop listening and start talking. We might not be talking out loud, but the focus of the conversation in our own heads is already ourselves. The trick to genuinely listening has everything to do with actually keeping our own minds quiet.
Your Customers Should Be Able to Talk without Being Interrupted
Sometimes salespeople and account managers get excited about something because they know how to solve it. However, the customer is still talking about their issue, and instead of listening, they try to solve it when they have only heard half of the customer's complaint. The intentions are good in this case - it just means they want to solve the issue as fast as possible. But listening to a customer and their complaint comes first.
Even if a salesperson already knows the solution to the problem or knows how to handle the issue at hand, listening always comes first. Which, in essence, tells the customer that you care about what they need and what they want. Who knows? Maybe they'll surprise you and their problem is actually a bit more unique than it initially appears. Or, in some cases, maybe it's not, but because of the customer's situation, there's a special solution that needs to take precedence over the standard problem-solving process.
