5 common client pain points: Active Listening Helps Sales

Being in sales has a lot more to do with listening to a client and less to do with saying the perfect line to win a client over. Typically, what separates the good from the great sales people by nature is very analytical as it is conversion. Converting a "would-be-callback" lead to a sale takes creative energy, perseverance and above all, the ability to use your listening skills.

It's not just to get a great Quality Assurance score either for those of us sales people who have their calls scored and evaluated. It can actually help you with your timing when it is the appropriate moment to show case your features and benefits. Please do not take my word for it. Let's take a look at some stats showing us how listening can help conversion in sales.

Active Listen To These Stats

What customers are saying in 2024

According Nick Hollinger, CEO of Visitor Queue:

69% of customers believe that listening to their needs created a good sales experience (source).

61% said that the sales person wasn't pushy and that they were information relevant. (source).

Let's take a second here and reflect, I thought most of us sales people are trained to be as aggressive as possible? You mean by simply listening oppose to reading off our next scripted line to a client, we actually stand a chance to make more sales? Good to know! Let's keep going

51% said it mattered that the sales rep responding in a timely manner (source).

So Active Listening Helps Sales or No?

On the Gong Labs Report who took a volume of 25,000 calls and analyzed them;

" As it turned out, the “highest yielding” B2B sales conversations hovered around a 43:57 talk-to-listen ratio.

In other words, the data told us that top-producing B2B sales professionals speak 43% of the time (on average), allowing the prospect to speak 57% of the time (on average).

DISCLAIMER: Be sure you know the difference between correlation and causation before taking this data too seriously. Use your judgment.

But again, most sales reps are talking more than they believe they are (65–75% of the call)."

(source).

Key Takeaways & Conversion Boosts:

The Golden Listening Ratio in sales equals 43:57 or 43% of the time you will be speaking however 57% of the time you will be listening as the sales person.

What this along with other sales elements like this translated to was an average increase of 54% conversion in sales which is yet another example that active listening helps sales (source).

Keep More Clients

As stated by the data drive Formaloo, "...customer retention rates increase by 5% for every 1% increase in customer satisfaction. Another study finds that only a 5% increase in customer retention can increase company revenue by 25-95%" (source).

Take Scissors To The Sales Cycle

Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at 33% lower cost per lead according to Forrester Research. Marketo shares that leads that have been nurtured have a 23% shorter sales cycle when compared to leads that have not been nurtured (source).

Super Sized Deals

Nurtured leads usually make 47% larger purchases than their non-nurtured counterparts according to the Annuitas Group. (source)

Building trust and creating a positive sales environment are definitely part of the whole sales process. However in order to find why we are listening let's go through those 5 common reasons why we know active listening helps sales.

Not Being Heard by Pushy Salespeople

Customers often feel frustrated when salespeople push products without understanding their needs as well as they don't feel heard with sales people simply "ignoring and moving on" in that lovely scripted technique sales people use.

To solve this we suggest using empathy and letting them speak. Sometimes a client "going on a tangent" can actually fill in some of those burning questions you had. There's that 43:57 ratio to think about while doing this of course so be sure to speak up here and there with a comment or question to lead them towards the sale.

Using simple techniques like open ended questions or recapping what was told to you as well as using a positive tone can drastically improve your positioning.

2. Dealing with a Lack of Funds

Sometimes whether a sales pitch was perfect or not a client may want the product or service but lacks the budget to fulfill the action.

They may even hint at this during part of the conversation. If they have strong intentions to buy in that moment they may tell a sales person this after they've presented the value of the service/product and right before they present the price. If the budget rebuttal happens at that point, they did a great job building value.

Using the same points the salesperson took notes of throughout the call would help them greatly in this stage of the sale. Recapping all the emotional reasons such as;

time-saving benefits so they can spend that time with family
cost saving benefits so they can take that trip they wanted to take
grows in value so they can give it to family later on

All of these points, no matter how compelling need to tied with a sense of urgency and it should be stated that this product/service isn't here forever in some sort of fashion. Of course overlapping all of this would be a smooth, even tone to establish further trust with the client.

If all else fails push back the start date or offer a discount if possible to save the deal or alternatively create a call back opportunity, its all in the timing.

3. Bad Timing

There are moments where its just the right sale at the wrong time. It could be that the call caught them while they were out or they are under a truck doing repairs or anything of the sort.

Have an easy toned conversation with them briefly and set up a call back. This would be the best mode of action in these circumstances. Trying to fit a whole script & close in with a short amount of time does the salesman a dis-service based on the goal.

4. Complex or Confusing Products

If a prospect is confused about a product, over explaining it may only harm the objective. In this instance "Less is More" and try to speak in terms that translate well with them and ask them open ended questions.

Framing the questions can also go a long way, this will be covered in future blogs. However by simplifying the products information you stand a chance of them grasping the value and importance which a salesperson can use to create urgency.

5. Poor Customer Service

Whether its a cold call or a loyal client, having a negative customer experience with the company can also keep anyone from returning back. Having a good rapport with the client can go a long way post sale when it comes time for renewal or any upselling a company would like to push on existing clients.

If left as is, all of these common issues all happening at the exact same time can sink a company. To avoid these problems ask yourself, do you rall know the customer needs better than them? If not give them a chance to be heard it has proven to lead to great things.

Have more questions? Book a call with me or leave a comment to dive deeper into the areas that weren't covered.