Active Listening in Sales: The Ultimate Guide

销售量people don’t hold all of the cards anymore. With a quick Google search and some browsing, prospects can gather as much information about a product as a salesperson has.

作为a result, it’s harder for salespeople to demonstrate their expertise. And if they can’t demonstrate expertise, it becomes all the more difficult to establish credibility and eventually build trust.没有信誉和信任，销售人员可能会失去其前景的兴趣……或更糟的是，永远不会真正获得他们的兴趣。

So what should salespeople do? Simple: Invest in listening. AsJohn Doerr writes，不听的代表错过了建立融洽关系，发现买方需求的机会，并让潜在客户知道您了解他们的世界。

麻烦的是,听力可以是非常困难的。太啊ften, salespeople are waiting for their turn to talk or thinking about what to say next, instead of truly listening to the prospect. To eliminate this habit, I’ve taught the reps who have reported to me over the years a very specific skill: Active listening.

这是我们教授新销售人员加入HubSpot团队的第一批技能。直到关闭电话，这对他们立即有所帮助。

主动聆听不仅适用于销售，也不适用于新事物。心理治疗研究的开国元勋之一卡尔·罗杰斯（Carl Rogers）博士在1940年代起源于“反思性聆听”的概念。在接下来的几年中，他的学生理查德·法森（Richard Farson）更名为“积极聆听”。

罗杰斯的另一位学生，三届诺贝尔和平奖提名人托马斯·戈登博士是largely responsible for popularizing the strategy。戈登（Gordonbob全站app）的公司戈登培训国际（Gordon Training International）已教导成千上万的人通过积极的聆听以及其他技能来建立更有效的关系。

While I haven’t received instruction directly from Gordon Training, I’ve stuck pretty close to their概念的定义。为了简单起见，我教积极的聆听作为四步过程：

1. 真正倾听前景。
2. Feed back the content and feeling of the prospect’s words.
3. 确认您正确听到了潜在客户。
4. 作为k a relevant follow up question to further clarify your understanding of their situation.

1.真正听取前景

销售量reps are often too busy talking to listen. Even if they are tuned in, they’re often just listening for a specific word or challenge that tips them off as to whether the prospect needs their product.

销售量people who do this are not much different than a dog waiting for a command. (Yes, I might have just called you a dog.) When salespeople do this, prospects can sense it, and they come to the conclusion that the rep simply wants to sell them something regardless of whether they need it or not. It’s a downward spiral that usually leads to nowhere.

But the best salespeople listen differently. They forget about the script (and maybe even their own agenda), and really listen to the words and feelings that a prospect is conveying in their language, tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language.

通过观察听觉，视觉和身体线索以及潜在客户的话，销售人员可以真正开始了解其前景的困境，并将自己放在买家的鞋子上。

这种类型的聆听可以通过鼓励潜在客户开放更多，可以产生巨大的不同，并且fostering trust and commitment。

因此，当您打电话或与潜在客户开会时，请忽略周围的干扰，扔掉脚本，不要再担心您接下来要说的话，然后真正注意。

2. Feed back what you just heard back to the prospect

在潜在客户发表声明之后，揭示了有关他们的挑战或寻找的东西的重要内容，然后将其喂给他们，以便他们可以从您那里听到。您采用此步骤的目标是回馈您的理解；也就是说，您最好的猜测对方发生了什么。

Sometimes, this can be done non-verbally. But without the benefit of face-to-face presence, inside sales reps must do this verbally.

我通常会向销售人员展示如何使用下面描述的三种方法之一：

• 重复您逐字听到的内容。This is the easiest route, because the prospect will hear exactly what they just said and can either confirm their meaning or clarify their statement. But be careful not to overuse this approach with a prospect as they might start to doubt your understanding. (Parrots don’t actually understand, right?)
• 解释你听到的。这是一种更好的方法，而不是简单地重复他们所说的话。通过释义，您可以将他们所说的话浓缩为更简洁的东西。当您这样做时，您的潜在客户知道您的聆听是因为您将他们的演讲内部化了足以总结他们所说的话。但是，避免过分简化并遗漏重要的细节 - 这可能会使买家对您的信心。
• 把你刚刚听到的东西放在自己的话语中。这是所有人最好的策略。通过将您刚刚听到的话语放入单词中，您可以展示自己的前景，即您有一个理解像他们这样的情况的框架，并且可以同情他们的斗争。请注意不要离他们的语言太远。使用陌生的词汇或少量术语，并确保在这样做时解释它们。

By feeding back what you just heard, you’ll make an immediate impression on your prospect. Since most people are not great listeners by nature, your prospect will be appreciative of your ability to listen effectively and summarize.

说服您的前景已经被听到和理解是此过程中此步骤中最重要的结果。但是，不要让这个机会...

3.确认您已经正确听到了它们

This critical step is often overlooked. After you’ve paraphrased what your prospect has said, simply ask “Did I communicate that effectively?” or “Do you believe I understand what you have shared with me?” If the prospect says “no” you now have an opportunity to clarify your understanding by asking “Could you clarify for me what I might have missed or got wrong?”

请注意，这些问题如何为他们提供一个空缺，以给您诚实的反馈。相比之下，我不建议说“这有意义吗？”或“你能解释更好吗？”或任何其他问题，将责任归咎于前景没有有效沟通。

Michelle Adams, VP of Gordon Training says, “When you nail it, you know it and the other person tells you that you did by saying things like: ‘Yes! That's it!’ or ‘Exactly, you've nailed it.’ Or they will begin nodding their head emphatically. If you miss on your Active Listening, they will tell you that too with: ‘Well, no, it's not that. It's more like this … ’ or they will look at you like you're nuts.”

The following video from Gordon Training shows this step in action.

Once you get good at this part of the process, you’ll be able to create a confirmation bias in your prospect’s mind.研究发现that we like to surround ourselves with people who think like we do. By repeating what this person has said and then confirming that you’re on the same page, the confirmation bias starts to form, and trust begins to develop.

4.提出相关的后续问题

反馈您所听到的内容并确认您了解前景后，下一步是提出相关的后续问题。

Resist the temptation to ask closed-ended questions that might make the prospect think that you’re only interested in making the sale. Instead, I recommend asking an open-ended question that encourages your prospect to share more about their goals, challenges, and current plans.

作为Saul McLeod points out，开放式问题使该人可以用自己的话语表达他们的想法。如果您提出正确的问题，潜在客户本身可能会得出正确的结论，解决自己的问题，或者至少开始相信存在解决方案以帮助解决他们的问题。他们甚至可以得出结论，您的解决方案是正确的解决方案。此外，通过让您的潜在客户继续批判性地思考自己的处境（大声），您有更好的机会揭示前景（或不会）向您购买的令人信服的理由。

鉴于HubSpot出售了大多数公司可能不知道需要的复杂产品和方法（尤其是在早期），因此我在积极的聆听过程中添加了第四步。

当我们试图说服营销人员需要采用一种新的营销方式时，我发现使用我们的资格框架作为指导，可以在相关的后续问题中深入研究潜在客户的需求是有价值的。

主动聆听的示例

虽然与销售无关，但主动聆听的一个很好的例子来自我最喜欢的节目之一：每个人都爱雷蒙德。好奇地看到并听到动作中的主动聆听是什么样的？查看这两个剪辑：

5 Uses For Active Listening

在某些情况下，主动聆听特别有用，以及在这种情况下如何应用它。

1. Addressing Resistance in the Beginning of a Sales Call

I advise salespeople to use Active Listening early in the sales process to communicate to prospects that they’re there to really listen and help them -- not just sell them something.

这是很早的对话听起来的样子。

展望：我真的不需要X的帮助。

销售量person:因此，您对X感到不错，并且没有寻求任何帮助。你能说更多吗？

展望: Well ... I don’t have a lot of time.

销售量person: Seems like I caught you in the middle of something and your time is short.

展望：是的，但是我想我有几分钟。

销售量person： 好的。I often hear one of a few things in situations like yours: A, B, and sometimes C. If any of those are relevant, I have some ideas I could share with you that you might find valuable. Maybe we could talk for a few minutes now and schedule another meeting when you have more time?

销售人员常常急于提出另一个问题或提出其价值。通过重复潜在客户表达的内容（言语和感受）并要求澄清，您表明您正在积极倾听他们的声音。这清除了开始提出问题或定位价值的方式。

2.确定令人信服的变革原因

使用积极聆听的最佳时间可能是，当潜在客户对他们面临的挑战分享情感时。

这是一个例子：

展望: I’m very frustrated that we didn’t achieve our goal of A this year. I thought about it all last month. This really set us back. Worse, I’m just stuck on what to do next year.

[步骤1：听]

销售量person: Hmmm. I see. I can see how that would be frustrating.[[Step 2: feedback]

展望。Yeah.

销售量person：因此，听起来您今年实现目标对您来说真的很重要。当您今年没有实现时，这确实让您回来了，明年您会做些不同的事情。[[Step 2: feedback]Did I get that right?[[Step 3: Confirm understanding]

展望： 是的。Exactly right.

销售量person：好吧，您正在考虑明年做什么？[[Step 4: Ask relevant follow up question]

展望: Well, we’ve consider implementing plan B. But, I’m just not sure it’ll work given we don’t know how to execute plan B yet. We just don’t have the right skills within our team.

销售量person：您是否考虑过向像您这样的其他公司实施B计划的人的建议？

展望: That seems like it’d be a good idea.

3. Recapping an Exploratory Call

While it’s never too early to restate the goals and challenges that a prospect has shared with you, empathize, confirm your understanding, and probe further, I find that the end of an exploratory conversation is a great time to showcase that you’ve heard them throughout the call.

使用HubSpot的资格框架，我经常总结我从对话中学到的知识：

销售量person：我们准时出现。如果有道理，我们可以安排更多时间。但是，在这一点上，我建议我们回顾我们今天讨论的内容。

展望: That’d be great.

销售量person：据我了解，您目前的目标是A。为了实现您的目标，您实施了B计划，该计划尽管您尽了最大的努力，但今年不起作用。您预计C再次挑战可能会再次实施B计划，并在时间表D和预算范围内实现目标A。

展望：这是完全正确的。实际上，令人印象深刻的回顾。

销售量person：我们还讨论了计划F（解决方案的一个组成部分）如何能够帮助您克服挑战C。

展望：Well ... I’m not sure I completely understand plan F.

销售量person： 好的。我们经历了计划F的一些方面，但我同意我们尚未完全涵盖它。在我们的下一个电话中，您是否想对计划F进行更深入的深入，真正勾勒出它，并确保我们完全同意它可以帮助您实现目标A？

展望： 听起来不错。感谢您到目前为止的帮助。

销售量person： 别客气。您想什么时候安排我们的下一个电话？

4.解决异议

The best way to avoid an objection is to anticipate and address it proactively. Effective application of Active Listening can help you do just that.

尽管如此，在结束时间之前，很少有您可以预料和解决所有反对意见。不用担心 - 主动聆听也在这里闪耀。这是一个例子。

展望: I’m really concerned about plan F. I worry it won’t work well for our team.

销售量person: Got it. We certainly don’t want to get you started if you’re not clear on how you’re going to be successful with the plan.[[Step 2: feedback]您认为计划F是否有特定的事情？[步骤4：相关后续问题]

展望： 是的。通常，我只是不确定我们是否有合适的人来实施G。

销售量person： 好的。我们谈到了玛丽可能会做G，但是您担心这行不通吗？[[Step 2: feedback]

展望: Right.

销售量person：您当前的团队中还有其他人认为可以做G吗？还是您认为我们可以为玛丽花时间，以便她可以学习如何做G？[步骤4：询问相关后续问题]

展望: I think it’s possible to teach Mary, but is there a way that you could just do G for us in the meantime?

销售量person：那是我们为工作定义的范围之外的，但是让我们重新审视。我们当然已经为其他客户做到了这一点，可以跳入直到您确定内部人员为您处理它。

5. Closing Business

Dave Kurlan invented my favorite closing technique: “无礼的关闭。”如果您在销售过程中正确完成了所有操作，那么结束应该是发生的事情。如果您需要一点推动，那么无聊的关闭是要求业务的最简单方法。

正如戴夫（Dave）在他的书中所描述的那样基线销售，犯罪问题涉及三个问题：

1. Do you believe I understand your issues, your problems, and your concerns?
2. Do you believe I/we have the expertise to solve your problem effectively?
3. Would you like my/our help?

作为you can see, listening during the sales process as well as confirming understanding are necessary steps if you want to use this closing approach.

But even when you’ve run a great sales process, prospects don’t always answer with an emphatic “yes” after each of these questions. That’s when Active Listening can be very handy, once again.

展望: I’m not quite positive that you have the right expertise. I’m concerned that you’re not the best provider for a company like ours.

销售量person： 好的。让我确保我理解。您担心我们不会成为最好的提供商。[[Step 2: feedback]您是否认为您的竞争对手可能会在您的行业中拥有更多的经验？[步骤4：相关后续问题]

展望：嗯，在行业中并不是那么多，但是他们在像我们这样的文化上拥有更多的经验。至少，这是我的看法。

销售量person: So it’s more about the culture of your organization as opposed to your industry?[[Step 3: Confirm understanding]

展望： 是的。确切地。

销售量person：但是听起来团队的其他成员可能会不同意您的意见吗？[步骤4：相关后续问题]

展望：有点轻描淡写。我的一些同事对您已经为我们所做的工作非常高。

销售量person： 我懂了。因此，听起来我的公司中有一些大型粉丝。bob全站app多年来，我们当然已经为他们提供了很多帮助。但是，考虑到组织的文化，您认为我们的竞争对手更适合为您提供帮助。如果我可以向您展示我们为其他与您的文化类似的公司所做的事情，这会有所帮助吗？

展望： 是的。I think that would make the decision a lot easier.

销售量person：如果我能有效地做到这一点，您会雇用我们来帮助您而不是另一家公司吗？

展望： 是的。

从这些示例中可以看到，从第一次互动到完成交易，主动聆听是一项几乎可以在销售过程的任何阶段使用的技能。

Practicing Active Listening

尽管主动聆听是一项相对简单的理解技能，但很难掌握。好消息是，与任何技bob官网官方网站能一样，实践带来了卓越。

积极聆听的好处是，当您学会了有效地做到这一点时，您会知道它。您的前景会告诉您您是否在正确的道路上。

但是我发现，新的销售人员需要一个安全的环境，他们可以在其中练习积极的聆听。考虑到这一点，我要求一些HubSpot销售经理分享一些指导主动聆听的技巧。

以下是Greg Brown的一些，最高的销售表演者转为销售经理：

如果您觉得自己在对话中间进行调整或思考下一个问题或陈述，请做一些事情以摆脱困境。点击桌子或在手腕上捕捉橡皮筋。关闭所有干扰，包括手机，浏览器中的额外选项卡，电子邮件和聊天客户端。

如果您发现自己想提出问题或发表声明，请写下来，以便以后再问。这将使您释放您，以便您可以聆听潜在客户所说的话。

HubSpot销售经理Jen Cooley与她的新销售人员一起玩有趣的游戏，以教他们如何使用这一四步活动的主动聆听过程。这对她的团队产生了令人印象深刻的影响：

在主动聆听的四个步骤中，我发现＃2和＃3非常容易，但是＃1和＃4更难教书。

One of my favorite exercises to run is a “hot potato” game. I describe a real sales scenario and we do a role play. I start the role play by making a statement and then tossing the potato (or any object that I have handy) to someone in the room.

When you get the potato, you have to keep the conversation going by feeding back and asking a relevant follow up question. After completing these steps, the rep then tosses the potato to another salesperson. We repeat this until we have the prospect’s complete story.

通常，房间里的不同人会听到不同的细节，因为他们正在更有效地聆听。随着故事的展开，这些细节变得至关重要，其余的是步骤＃1的重要性。他们还学习不同的方法来提出相关的后续问题，帮助他们在步骤4上进行进步。

由于这些小组的练习，我看到了个人表现的重大变化。它极大地提高了代表有效地有资格并根据个人潜在客户的需求定制我们的服务的能力。

销售量call film review provides another great opportunity to teach Active Listening. Dan Macadam, another HubSpot sales manager, does this frequently with his team. Here’s how he describes its impact:

当我们回顾电话,我经常听到代表完整ely misunderstanding a prospect’s questions or statements. They end up taking the conversation in a direction that loses the prospect’s interest.

When I hear this, I rewind back to the part where they misheard something important. Then, I’ll ask the rep to repeat back to me what the prospect said. We’ll talk about why this phrase was important and how the conversation might have went differently had they practiced Active Listening.

由于这一过程，我们多次发现了错过的机会，使代表能够使机会回到下一个电话中。我什至有销售人员立即致电潜在客户，道歉，解释说他们认为他们错过了一些重要的东西，然后进行对话框。

我们以这种方式赢得了很多交易。同样重要的是，我正在教我的销售人员如何在未来的销售电话中使用积极的聆听。

在买家不依靠销售人员获取信息的世界中，销售人员需要建立专业知识，并在每次互动中快速建立信任。相互理解，即主动聆听启用是在整个销售过程中赚取和保持这种信任的最佳方法之一。

如果您开始在互动中使用积极的聆听，并随之而来的销售额增加，请在评论中分享您的故事。同时，如果您在开始在销售电话中积极聆听之前需要更多的鼓励，也许Abbott和Costello可以为您提供。

他们不仅给我们赠送了有史以来最令人难忘的喜剧短剧之一，而且可能是有史以来最糟糕的尝试：

通过主动聆听，代表可以开始更多的对话，发现挑战和目标，处理反对意见，并更有效地结束。如有疑问，请闭上嘴并张开耳朵。

Thank you to Michelle Adams, Mike Renahan and Emma Brudner for their contributions to this post.