Cal Thomas

I speak to many salespeople every week and one of my questions always is, “How do you find out what your client needs?”

The answer I often hear is, “By listening. I’m a good listener.”

What salespeople often don’t understand is that listening is a two-part exercise, neither of which is passive.

I have a secret, when people buy from you it is for their reasons not yours. Now that you understand that concept, let’s discuss how we can get buyers to discover their reasons and more importantly, share them with us.

Throughout my career as a speaker-trainer-entertainer I have had to connect with hundreds, if not thousands of people. Whether it was one-to-one or speaking to a roomful of people, I have realized that the secret to connecting and getting your message across is rapport.

Two things I’ve always used to build rapport are mainly on the physical level: eye contact and facial expressions.

All things being equal, people tend to buy from people they like and trust. All things being unequal, the same principal applies.

So how do we apply this in selling? We obviously can’t reduce our market to people who are like us. Many people in our target market will not be like us. So, what can we do? We need to treat people the way they want to be treated (not the way we want to be treated).

Practice makes you more competent. When you are more competent, you become more confident. When you are confident, you can stand out and own the room.

Salespeople are often asked, “How’s business?” Most respond, “Great!” Some say, “Terrific!” Others answer, “Not so good.” Most of these replies really mean, “I don’t know." By monitoring your numbers on an ongoing basis you will know how you are doing.