Salespeople as Businesspeople #7

By: Brent Patmos

The next 16 blog posts will deal specifically with the behaviors, strategies and skill sets that lead to salespeople thinking as businesspeople and achieving advanced levels of sales performance.

Competency #7 - Highly Effective Questioning and Listening Skills: The salesperson as businessperson asks probing and open ended questions rather than closed ended questions that are answered with a simple yes or no. They use active listening skills rather than passive listening skills. Active listening skills provide insight around what was said as well as what wasn't said. They can "read between the lines" and gain greater insight into the strategic obejctives of their customer. Passive listening is one dimensional and leads to non-descript responses that reflect on the salesperson's desire to simply sell something.