Quiz: Are You An Active Listener?

Unless they’re being particularly direct — and feel compelled to proactively further your professional development as a salesperson — you’ll rarely hear a customer say something like, “You’re not actively listening to me!”

The consequences of failing to develop active listening tend to be less obvious than that, at least at first.

A customer that seemed interested in a particular product suddenly stops replying to messages and follow ups.

Later, you might learn they went with a competitor, albeit with a product or service that had been customized for them in some way.

It might have been customized in a way that you could have offered as well, had you properly understood their needs.

Active listening would have been one way to ensure you didn’t miss those kinds of details. But at that point, of course, it’s too late.

Sometimes salespeople don’t spend enough time listening because it’s been so difficult to even get in front of a customer. Even when the meeting or call is in response to a customer’s specific request, it might feel like the clock is ticking.

As a result, the default mode in sales is to pitch, persuade and close the deal.

The best salespeople, however, have learned that active listening is a vital part of the selling process. It’s a way of taking what customers say and selling as a way of meeting their needs or solving their problems, rather than convincing them to part with their money.

Those managing sales teams will often spend time working with reps to refine their pitch, or to help them make better sense of the data in their CRM. Those are both very important areas, but cultivating active listening is also important if you want your win rate to go up.

Use the following questions to start this process with a bit of a self-assessment. It’s easy to do: Just answer based on whether you seldom do these things (1) sometimes (2) frequently (3) or usually (4):

____ I make eye contact with the customer when I’m listening: You may need to sell using slides, a paper document or even your phone, but don’t be glued to it.

____ I don’t allow distractions when I’m intent on listening to a customer: They may have weird art on their office walls. There may be people who keep walking past the windows. Your phone might keep vibrating. Be a rock that can’t be moved.

____ I’m open to customer viewpoints that are different from my own: It’s not easy to be told you’re wrong, especially when you’re trying to sell, but you need to be open enough to understand why.

____ I tend to listen for more than just a “yes” from a customer: You have your goal, but it shouldn’t be treated as such a priority that you wind up damaging your customer relationship. Treat this moment for what it is: a conversation.

____ I try not to form my next response while listening to a customer: Reps are trained to overcome common objections, but don’t make this too reflexive. Instead, allow yourself enough mental space to make sure there’s not something different about the objection this time around.

____ I try to avoid being defensive when a customer is venting negative emotions: It’s tempting to think, ‘I’ll just wait until they’re done complaining and then shift it back to what I’m selling.’ Don’t.

____ I try to recognize the emotion under the customer’s words: They might seem terse but they might really be just tense. Or afraid. Remember that you’re there to help.

____ I avoid leaping to conclusions when listening to a customer: “This is it; they’re not buying,” your subconscious tells you when a customer’s feedback seems negative. Don’t listen to your subconscious. Listen to your customer.

____ I don’t assume a certain level of understanding in my customers when speaking: It’s so easy to sell with jargon and buzzwords that are disconnected from what customers know. Make sure when you respond you’ve heard the way they prefer to describe certain trends or needs.

____ I can easily paraphrase what the customer said in my own words: This is a great thing to do as you formulate a response. Just doing a quick “Have I got that right?” before you continue shows the customer you’re really paying attention.

____ Total

If you scored anywhere from about 35-to 40, your active listening skills are on point — and you’ve probably already met your quota for the month. If it’s less than that — particularly if it’s far less than that — it’s time to make active listening more of a deliberate practice.

Next time, try this with your manager, a fellow rep or even a friend and family member: Have them play the role of customer, and let them take the lead in a make-believe meeting.

After you’ve done — where you’ve attempted to make a sale — have them use these same questions, but have them grade you, rather than grading yourself. What was their impression of your active listening skills? Depending on the outcome, repeat this exercise until your score improves.

Active listening skills often need to be carefully developed, particularly in a role like sales. Fortunately it’s a skill that’s highly attainable — and once you have it, you might enjoy selling even more than you did before.