Are You a Good Communicator?

A salesperson’s success depends on his or her ability to communicate effectively. For successful communication, establish clear-cut objectives up front.

1. Make sure the receiver understands what you intend him/her to understand.

2. Secure a response, hopefully positive. (However a negative one can be equally informative.)

3. Build and then maintain a favorable relationship with the receiver.

To achieve these objectives, the salesperson must learn how to speak well, listen carefully, ask the right questions, and avoid misunderstandings.

You use words to communicate and through the communication process, you sell yourself and your services and/or products to others. The successful salesperson will think before speaking, choosing words that will be easily understood. The salesperson who has skills and technical knowledge plus the ability to express his or her ideas, to persuade, to assume control and arouse enthusiasm among others, is a person who is headed for higher earning power.

Leadership gravitates to the salesperson whose speaking skills are accessible and understandable but, for the communication process to be complete, he or she also has to listen carefully to the other person. When you ask, you not only transmit words but feelings, attitudes and philosophies. You can learn a great deal about your prospects and clients by listening to their words and trying to understand what is behind them. Dr. Judith Hall, an assistant professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University, says, “A lot of implicit understanding of what happens in a relationship is not a matter of what people say to each other. It’s how they say it, how they use their voices, where they direct their eyes, and the distance they put between each other.”

Another way of improving communication is to ask the right questions. “Where are you from?” and “What business are you in?” are great conversation openers. We all like to talk about where we are from or our work even if we don’t like our hometowns or detest our jobs!

By improving your questioning skills, you learn to elicit the right response to reach a common understanding and pursue a common goal. Not only will these questions inform you of your customer’s needs, they will also show a genuine interest on your part. Questions help verify understanding and promote necessary feedback.

I read somewhere that the question mark closely resembles a fish hook and that is just as it should be, for if properly used, a question hooks the other person to the way you are directing the conversation. Formulating the right questions will give you the information needed to help the customer decide what he actually wants. Your fish hook – your question – enables you to reel in your prospects!

Clear communication requires following guidelines that will help ensure that you won’t be misunderstood.

1. Collect your thoughts before you speak.

2. Choose your words carefully. Avoid words with double meanings, colloquialisms, and words that aren’t accessible to everyone.

3. Watch for physical signs of agreement or disagreement but be sure to read the signals correctly. For instance, the receiver may nod absentmindedly, as if he is agreeing with you, when he may not agree with you at all but is only nodding his understanding of your point.

4. Be a good listener.

5. Speak clearly and distinctly.

According to popular myth, all a good salesperson really needs is a lot of charm and the gift of gab. You have seen that this is not so. If you are a salesperson who wishes to succeed, stop gabbing and ask yourself these questions:

“Am I speaking clearly and avoiding misunderstandings?”
“Have I really listened to what my customer has to say?”

“Am I asking the right questions?”

If the answer to any of these is “No,” start practicing the simple guidelines set forth in this article. Is that clear enough?

Ten Thoughts on Good Listening

1. Most people listen but few hear.

2. A major index of emotional maturity is the ability to listen.

3. Pretend you have no voice. Not only will you interrupt less, you will hear far better.

4. If it’s worth saying, it’s worth listening to.

5. Notice how often a poor memory goes with a poor listener.

6. Speak with enthusiasm but listen with calmness.

7. A top professional at anything is a master listener.

8. If you must speak, ask questions.

9. There is no such thing as an unpopular listener.

10. To succeed, one must understand. To understand, one must hear. To hear, one must listen.

Check Your Negative Listening Habits:

Are you easily distracted?

Do you daydream?

Do you think of answers rather than pay attention?

Do you assume you understand when you may not?

Do you mentally criticize the speaker?

Do you allow emotions to interfere?

Do you interrupt?

Do you hear only what you want to hear?

Are you just waiting for the speaker to finish so that you can have your turn?

Letter to a Sales Manager

Dear Sales Manager,

Last week I came to your place of business interested in buying your product. After ambling around your store unassisted, wanting to ask some questions, I found it necessary to go get one of your salesmen! The one whose attention I finally got was standing in a group with three other salesmen watching me from a corner of the showroom.

I, too, am a salesperson. It was my day off, and I was dressed in casual clothes. Your salesman sized me up with a glance, then proceeded to treat me with an indifference that led me to believe he just wanted to go through the motions and get back to the dope ring – that is the ring of dopes standing there in the corner.

The salesman was nice enough, all right, but if I had not reached out to shake his hand, he would never have reached for mine! He took no note of my name, and he didn’t care enough about me as a potential customer to find out what I do for a living, what my needs are, or even how to contact me. The product I asked him questions about was almost unknown to him – in fact, we learned about it together – except for its obvious color and the dealership’s wonderful floorplanning arrangements. Product knowledge seemed to escape him, and he never offered to get the information and get back with me. It appeared as if he had already determined by violating the first cardinal rule of salesmanship – do not prejudge – that I couldn’t afford the product.

It’s been a week now since I left your place of business in frustration. Of course, your salesman hasn’t done the most important job he should have done, whether or not I purchased the product – that’s follow-up. He couldn’t if he wanted to. He didn’t care enough about me to get my name!

What really disturbs and angers me is that your “salesman” and thousands of other selling amateurs out there are giving those of us who work so hard at our trade to build a good reputation a bad name merely because we all share the same title – salesperson.

One cannot go anywhere to buy anything today without encountering indifferent and ignorant salespeople. Yes, there are many decent, professional salespeople out there who do run the good race and do it with style. I will admit that. But their efforts are shadowed by the “order taker” whom the public will always perceive as a salesperson. We professionals seethe silently because we know the difference. But we snicker, too, for as long as the selling amateur exists, the true professional will rake it in!

I respectfully remain,

A Salesman Who Has Had Enough.

(Editor’s Note: This letter was sent to our office by a sales manager who wanted to share an example of the high cost of poor communication.)