Leveraging active listening and effective questioning

- The goal of listening is to increase understanding. Understanding of your customers, your competitors, and the marketplace. And your customers can give you more insight and perspective than what makes it onto polish company blogs and highly curated marketing articles. To listen well, speak as little as possible. The more you remain silent, the more the person or people you are talking with can speak. The more they speak, the more you learn. For example, I was calling on the CEO of a large telco based in Washington DC. I was there to discuss a new Customer Relationship Management System, a CRM. But in the course of the conversation, she began to share her plans for exiting the organization. She said she needed to develop the next level leaders. She wanted her legacy to be one of leadership development and a smooth transition. This was huge for me, not only in being able to sell the CRM since I was able to tie it to her legacy and her wish for leadership development, but I was also able to position a partner of mine as the successor. A great referral and a great benefit to my customer, and all happened just because I listened. Next up, don't intrude. Unfortunately, often when we listen, we are more focused on what we're going to say next or where our customer sentence is headed. Interrupting is not only rude behavior, it completely negates the value of listening. This is so painful to watch if you have ever seen it. I was in Texas coaching a client of mine, Peter, when his Head of Accounting dropped in with a question. They were in the middle of hiring a new payroll vendor, and the lead candidate was in the accountant's office. John, the accountant, asked if my client could come in for a brief talk. When Peter went to talk to the vendor and see the program in action, he just had a few questions, but every time he spoke up, the vendor cut him off mid-sentence, guessing at what Peter was asking and providing an answer he thought was relevant. Peter got so frustrated he just got up and walked out. So always remember when selling into telecommunications, you have to let the prospect lead the conversation. You do not know where they are headed unless you listen to their full thought. Ask the right questions and ask them in the right way. Use tell me questions to explicitly request that your customer elaborate further. Things like, "Can you tell me about your strategy for growth on a local level?" "Tell me what's working and what's not." "Tell me how the new regulations are affecting you." Finally, take action. Prove to your customer that you've heard them by doing something directly as a result of what they've said. You can't rely on past knowledge or current events alone to stay relevant for your telecom clients. Let them tell you what they need.