Listen The ServiceMagic ProConnection

When you are on a sales call, sometimes you need to talk and sometimes you need to listen. Overall, you should do more listening than talking.

When you leave a sales call, do you know what the potential client wants done? Could you list their concerns and prioritize their requests? Do you know enough about them to know they are a client you want to work with?

You learn those things by asking questions and then listening to the answers. When a question is answered, you should have at least two or more questions ready to follow. Your mission is to get as much information as you can, and that won?t happen if you?re busy talking.

Questions like:

• What do they want to do?
• Have they considered options to that plan? What are acceptable alternatives?
• When did they want to start or complete the job?
• What is their criteria for picking their contractor?
• Who will be involved in the buying decision?
• When will they be ready to make the buying decision?
• What is their budget for the job?
• How are they planning to pay for the job?

If you couldn?t answer those questions or similar questions for the last three calls you went on, it might be time to revisit your sales presentation. These are things you need to know.

More important, if you didn?t learn those things, it?s possible you spent too much time talking. I can?t tell you the number of sales I have seen lost by sales people who want to yap, yap, yap when they get in front of potential clients. The potential client asks a question, and away the sales person goes, telling the potential client everything they know on a subject as if that?s what?s most important. Put a cork on the talking. Ask questions, listen to the answers and show your potential client that you know how to communicate.

Sign up for Michael Stone?s free monthly newsletter to get information and tips to strengthen your construction-related business. Michael is a popular industry speaker as well as an author of two books; ?Markup & Profit; A Contractor?s Guide? and ?Profitable Sales, A Contractor?s Guide?. You can visit his website, follow him on Twitter and like his page on Facebook for more great advice and tips.

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Source: http://www.servicemagicproconnection.com/listen/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=listen

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