Listening Your Way to the Sale. (Personal Outlook).

With customers today being more sophisticated than they were just 10 years ago, salespeople in every industry are up against a new set of challenges. No longer does a slick sales presentation guarantee a signed contract. In fact, anything that your customers perceive as a sales pitch will prompt them to immediately tune you out and seek another vendor.

The fact is that to be successful in today's highly competitive marketplace, salespeople need to learn an entirely new skill--the skill of listening. The top-tier salespeople know that sales are simply a matter of listening to what their customers perceive as the need and then identifying what their customers want from the exchange (the solution to their need). When you can respond to your customers so that the presentation is completely based on what they've told you, then you are allowing your customers to sell themselves, thus enabling you to close more sales.

If your listening skills aren't on the mark, or if you believe you listen well and still aren't meeting your sales goals, then incorporate the following three strategies into your next sales presentation. By doing so, you are guaranteed to see improved results.

1. Do research prior to meeting with your client.

As little as 20 years ago, doing research on a client was a tedious task. It involved hours in the library, sorting through stacks of books just to find even the tiniest scrap of information about your customer's industry and current concerns.

Thanks to the Internet, however, company research is now a very simple task. Visit your customer's web site and read online business and trade publications in order to learn all you can about your client's industry and concerns. Learn about any new regulations that may impact your client's business, identify what your customer's competition is doing and become proficient at any industry jargon, so you can carry on a conversation using your client's terminology. As you conduct this research, write down any questions you need answered in order to position your product or service more effectively.

When you meet with your customer, go in with that question list, and use it as a focal point for the conversation. This doesn't mean you have to fire off questions in a precise order; it should simply guide your conversation, so you can learn everything possible about your customer's needs. When you do this, you allow your customers to do the majority of the talking. As a result, they will sell themselves on your proposed solution.