Be a good listener. Show people you are sincerely interested in what they are saying; give them all the eager attention and appreciation that they crave and are so hungry for, but seldom get. It is one of the most important principles of the formula for success in selling.
Yes, listening is magic in selling!
A few days after Frank Bettger made his first large sale ($250,000) he obtained a letter of introduction from a friend of his to the young president of a firm of building engineers who were then erecting several important projects. It was one of the most promising organizations in Philadelphia at the time.
The young president read the letter of introduction at a glance, and said: "If it's insurance you want to talk about, I'm not interested. I just bought more insurance about a month ago."
There was something so final in his manner, Bettger felt as though it would be fatal to be persistent. However, he was sincere in wanting to know this man better, so he ventured one question:
"Mr. Allen, how did you ever happen to get started in the building construction business?"
Bettger listened for three hours.
Finally, Mr. Allen's secretary came in with some checks for him to sign. As she left, the young executive looked up at Frank Bettger but said nothing. Bettger looked back at him in silence.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked.
"I want you to answer a few questions," Bettger replied.
Bettger left there knowing exactly what was in this young man's mind - his hopes, ambitions, objectives. Once during the interview Mr. Allen said, "I don't know why I'm telling you all these things. You know more now than I've ever told anybody - even my wife!"
Bettger felt that Mr. Allen had discovered things that day he didn't know himself, things that had never definitely crystallized in his own mind.
Frank Bettger thanked him for his confidence and told him he was going to give some thought and study to the information he had given him. Two weeks later, he presented a plan to Mr. Allen and his two associates for the perpetuation and protection of their business. It was Christmas Eve. Bettger left that company's office at four o'clock that afternoon with signed orders for $100,000 insurance on the life of the president; $100,000 on the vice president; and $25,000 on the secretary-treasurer.
That was the beginning of a close personal friendship between Frank Bettger and these men. During the following ten years, he did almost a million dollars in business with them. Never once did he feel that he'd sold them anything. They always bought. Instead of trying to give them the impression that he had all the answers, he made them give him the answers, largely by asking questions and then listening.
The Art of Listening
• Look people straight in the eyes when they are talking.
• Give them your undivided attention. This communicates that you think what they have to say is important.
• Listen to what people are actually saying.
• When you really listen, it makes your use of questions more productive; you will uncover what they are not saying.
• When you uncover what they are not saying, you have helped them discover what they needed to say, but didn't know how.
This is the magic of listening in selling.
