Your Communication Skills depend on how much you understand the basics of how people interact and relate to each other through the various methods we, individually and as a society, have developed to communicate.
It’s all about being effectively understood and understanding effectively. You must be able to communicate your desires and understand the desires being communicated to you.
Far too many salespeople misunderstand basic communication skills for selling when it comes to dealing with another human being. By zeroing in on the buying signals being communicated during a sales call by the potential customer you can avoid losing deals you should have otherwise had!
Even though each one of the selling skills you possess is important, building effective Communication Skills will be key to your development as a great salesperson.
Learning and Communication Skills
When we are very young and are learning the ways of the world around us, our understanding is deeply affected by perception directed by our senses. Studies have shown that individuals respond to different senses at varied levels suggesting reliance on one sense over another. Experts on learning therefore say a child will develop trust in a particular sense perception and rely on that form of perception in how they communicate.
- Visual – See
- Auditory – Hear
- Kinesthetic – Feel
These are basic styles of how people learn to communicate and understand each other.
The styles listed above illustrate how we process and express information so it is clearly understood and learned. Do you know your style?
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Communicate Effectively
A good communicator will be aware of a persons communication style and will try to relate to them in a way that is not obvious but effective. The goal is to be clear and understood. You must be very careful and not be patronizing in any way.
Psychologists and Sociologists study how people behave as individuals and in groups. Often, salespeople never really take advantage of the vast amounts of information that has come from their research.
I’ll give you snippets of this research to help you understand and identify the most common underlying traits of the people you are trying to persuade.
Although this site is about Telesales, your skill in communicating with people is where the rubber hits the road. The learning styles discussed above are basic and reflect the fact that every individual will see the world in their own unique way. If you are able to recognize the clues that your prospect exhibits, you’ll be successful in sales. The converse is also true.
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Learn to Listen
Listening is the most important part of communication!
This is probably the most difficult skill for any sales professional to incorporate into their style. If you spend all of your time talking and never listening, you do so at your peril.
The best salespeople are the best listeners. Think about the people in your life. I’ll bet you have a totally different relationship with the friends that listen well from the friends that never seem to shut-up.
How could you possibly know what someone wants if they don’t tell you? You don’t know, you’re guessing. A prospect will always tell you exactly what they want if you let them.
Examine yourself and see if you are a good listener. If you’re not, work on improving your listening skills. Listening is the most important of all your communication skills.
Speaking Efficiently
Many salespeople think that they are supposed to keep talking and that the worst possible scenario is for them to stop presenting. They’ll go on and on hoping that some magic phrase will clinch the deal.
There is no doubt that in many cases the sizzle is what sells, but it is counterproductive to take 30 words to make a point that can be made in 10. Present your offer in a concise manner.
I’ve seen salespeople blow sales because they didn’t know when to stop talking. So speak efficiently and make your point.
It’s Not About You!
In any sales situation, you need to cater to the prospect. Your goal is to understand what your potential client wants and how you can give it to them.
Every communication you make will have to satisfy a set of conditions the buyer has set. It’s not about you, your product, or service, or what you want. The prospects requirements will get filled or you won’t gain a customer.
The effectiveness of your communication skills will be measured by how well you understand the buyer. In simple terms, this means showing your prospect that you care.
Jim
Telesales-pro.com is primarily concerned with B2B Telesales. Selling over the Phone to business is a highly specialized activity and depends on many Sales Techniques specific to Telesales.
Whether you are looking for Sales Jobs or Sales Leads, TeleSales-Pro exists to provide you with valuable Sales Tips and Resources.
If you are trying to build your Sales Skills, improving your Telephone Sales Skills will give you a great foundation in Sales. After all, as salespeople, we all want to be Selling more.
Learning to Sell over the Phone will help you understand the Sales Process and will enable you to improve your overall Sales Negotiation Skills.
If you have any comments, feel free to comment about anything you read on telesales-pro.com. If you want to contact me you can email me: jim@telesales-pro.com