When I started out in business, one of my greatest fears was to face my prospect and sell him. Is this also true with you? Much later, I learned that successful selling is really more about listening to your prospect rather than impressing him with your product knowledge and success sales stories.

Early in my career, when I was just recently returned from studies in Europe, my father was pushing me to pitch our product to a factory manager. I was thinking that I was not great in the making “bola” department and I was really not a glib talker with a silver tongue. My father just laughed and said “You know more about this process than he does. Listen closely to what he is trying to say. He really wants to know how you can help him.”

I knew a salesman who could talk the hind legs off a donkey. My first impression was that he must be a very successful salesman. Later, I learned that he indeed visited many clients in a week but his sales record was quite poor. He was more of a visiting storyteller than an effective sales person.

To be successful at selling requires you to actually listen to what your client is really saying. Often he could already be telling you what he really wants, but you don’t hear it because you are too busy trying to fit your product to what you think he needs and trying to figure out how to respond. The clues could be verbal, but often are non-verbal. You might need to read between the lines and find out what your prospect really wants.

The secret to successful selling is in learning the value of listening closely. Pay attention to both what someone is saying, and how they are saying it. Take the time to listen, you will sell more.

Raffy Pefianco