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Getting Two Ears Full

Dear Colleague,

Well, I am off to Bucharest, Romania to speak to a group of community developers about marketing and sales strategies.  Before I left the country, I thought I would share some ideas about how to get your prospective customers to open up and tell you what they REALLY want. 

Not too long ago, a prospect called my office. As the call was patched through, I answered the phone as I normally do, “Hello this is Paul, how can I help?” The caller abruptly responded, “Do you have a female superintendent?” There was no hello, no how are you, no “my name is”. This guy had a story and he wanted to jump into it right away.

Fortunately, at the time, I did have a female superintendent. So immediately I said, “Yes. I do.” I then followed with, “I am really curious. Why do you ask?” The prospect told me, “Two years ago, we had some reconstruction work done to our house. The contractor had a male superintendent and that guy botched up the job. The contractor replaced him with a female superintendent and she took over the project and everything went as smooth as silk after that. We will never do another job unless we work with a female superintendent, because women are more careful than men in your business.”  

I can hear you women shouting your victory song right now.  

Wow, what a great story. I wasn’t offended by that. This prospect told me almost everything I needed to know in about 26 seconds. He told me that he had a previous buying experience. He told me that he knew what he wanted. He knew the construction process. He had real expectations of the project. And he was willing to invest more with a company who had a female superintendent. As you can imagine I landed the job very easily.

However, many sales people never allow their customers to get even that far.

The truth of the matter is that when you acknowledge and validate your customer, their story gets shorter and you glean more information from them that will help you to better serve them.

Here are a five quick ways that you can get two ears full of your customer’s story and still have plenty of time to “Punch up Your Sales”.

1. Listen intently. In other words, focus completely on the words, phrases, sentences and concepts that your customer is saying. Keep eye contact with them. Turn off your cell phone and block out any distractions or potential interruptions. Give them your undivided attention. Let them feel that they are the only person on the planet in that moment of conversation.
   

2. Validate what your customer is saying. Your customer wants to feel like they have been heard. The best way to do this is to repeat back a portion of what they have said and then ask for a slight expansion of what they have said. For example, Mr. Smith has just told you that he ran out of gas this morning on the way to the office. “Mr. Smith, that is interesting that you ran out of gas this morning. Has that ever happened to you before?” It is a simple response but you get the point. Expand a little on what they are saying. Is he griping? Is he embarrassed? Is he laughing it off? An expansion question draws out Mr. Smith to give you more information, which brings us to the next point.
   

3. Get curious. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it breathes life into a sale. Your level of curiosity with your customer can make the difference in making a sale and loosing a sale. When you are expanding the conversation or the story with your prospect, say, “Mr. Smith, now you have got me really curious. Were you frustrated or embarrassed when you ran out of gas?” What is the natural curiosity that you have about the customer’s story? If you have some questions in your own mind about the customer’s story, they probably have the answers to those questions. It continues the conversation, builds your credibility and gives you some direction about what is important to your customer.
   

4. Acknowledge the obvious. “Mr. Smith. I’ll bet that was frustrating to run out of gas this morning. And you were probably embarrassed when you called to tell your wife.” Those are normal, obvious reactions to someone who runs out of gas. And then tie his obvious reaction to yours. “I would have been embarrassed too.” When you acknowledge the obvious and connect it to your similar reaction, it builds credibility and commonality with your customer.
   

5. Acknowledge with your body language. A gentle nod. An appropriate grin. A verbal “aha” or “yes”. Some sort of body language agreement sends a non verbal message to your customer that you are willing to get both ears full of their story. Crossing your arms, leaning back in your chair and staring off into space oblivious to the conversation will get you kicked out the front door.

The interesting result of these kinds of listening strategies is that when you listen intently with both ears full of your customer’s story, you develop a compassion and empathy for their experience. You now have the opportunity to fill a need with your customer. You can sincerely serve their best interests. And let’s face it, it makes your job much more interesting when you are interested in other people.

There are many, many ways to demonstrate that you are listening with both ears full. The key here is to zip it up and listen. You don’t need to talk as much as you think. When your customer feels like they have been heard, then you will get to say as much as you want. It will be your turn.

When you develop the habit of getting two ears full, you will definitely “Punch up Your Sales”.

Check out my new 4-hour Audio Album, called "Punch Up Your Sales-How to Master the Fine Art of Successful Selling".  There are literally hundreds of ideas and suggestions for you to increase your productivity and your sales.  Click here for all the details.

Until next time, take great care of yourself and your loved ones. 

March 18, 2004

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"101 Power Strategies"
101 "low-cost" and "no-cost" proven strategies in this 144-page guide. Explode your construction business to the next level and MAKE MORE MONEY!

Paul Montelongo

"America's Construction Industry Motivator"