Two Ears and One Mouth for Sales Reps

Earlier today I sat in on a product demo with one of our top sales reps. By the end of the demo, I was reminded of the old adage: we have two ears and one mouth and we should listen twice as much as we talk. As a sales rep the beginner inclination is to excitedly talk about all the amazing bells and whistles, both to show how great the product is as well as to show off your knowledge. Successful sales reps know that asking the right questions and listening is more important than doing all the talking.

Our successful sales reps did the following today at the second product demo for a prospect:

• Explained his understanding of the top five pain points for the prospect
• Articulated what areas would be covered during the demo
• Gave a two minute background on the company (no slides ever)
• Presented a story of a user performing common actions
• Showed the results of those actions and our system
• Paused and asked if there were any questions at every step in the demo
• Respected the prospect’s time and ended promptly after 25 minutes
• Received an affirmative response at the end signaling the prospect is likely to move forward

Again, two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listening is one of the most important traits for sales reps.

What else? What listening tips do you have?