Tuesday, June 25, 2013
There are three critical steps you need to take to grow sales significantly:
1. Have Empathy
2. Listen Well
3. Gain Trust
People tend to buy more and often from those they trust. But you can?t gain trust if you don?t have empathy and listen well.
Empathy is caring about your customer and acknowledging their needs, fears and desires. This must come before you present your solutions. If you present solutions before showing empathy, your value will not come through. Value is escalated in the minds of the customer when solutions are presented in the context of how they are going to help the specific issues that particular customer is facing.
Empathy also shows the customer that you care. It is listening to your customer from their world, not making your own assumptions. Empathy symbolizes to the customer that you understand their needs and leads to a greater sharing of information. Empathy is what opens the customer up to listening to your proposed solutions with an open and eager mind.
Today, when we assess sales candidates for our clients, empathy is one of the top traits we are looking for.
To gain empathy, you have to listen well.
Once you have empathy and listen well, only then will you gain trust. Trust is critical for selling value and building long term relationships, not one time transactions.
Empathy, listening and gaining trust. Three critical factors for being a top producing sales exec and leader. Try it. The results will amaze you!
To learn more about gaining empathy, listening well and building trust, read Ron Karr?s
CEO Bestselling Book Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way and
invite Ron Karr to speak at your next meeting.