In this presentation Frances Pratt urges sales professionals to prioritize listening over talking, arguing that the first step of any successful sale is genuine, heart‑centered listening. She contrasts outdated "crocodile selling"—a pushy, assumption‑driven approach—with a new, graceful, honest style that begins with listening. To operationalize this, she introduces a two‑part listening tool. The first part is a self‑reflection compass that helps sellers identify the clients they truly love to work with, define the behaviors that energize them, and set firm boundaries against draining relationships. The second part is a client‑centric compass used during sales meetings to surface a prospect’s values, purpose, frustrations, aspirations, and emotional cues, ensuring a balanced fit for both parties. Throughout she emphasizes balance in income, energy, and time, and invites listeners to join upcoming masterclasses, Q&A sessions, and a limited‑time cohort in the Accelerate Sales Hub, with pricing locked until Thanksgiving.
Chapters
Hello and good morning, beautiful people. Um, I wanted to talk to you today because I've been inspired by the members in my Accelerate Sales Hub. And this month we've been focusing in on listening, which is such an essential sales tool and skill. And what's inspired me is that we know how to listen. We know— well, not all of us know. But thinking about listening, when we're listening to our clients or potential clients, we know that we've got to focus in on them. We know that we've got to listen with our minds. With an open heart, with assumptions laid on the side of the table. We know that we have to listen with our body so that people know that we're listening. And we know that part of listening is using our mouth by exploring things with people and checking in with people, using phrases like, So what I heard you say was, and can I just make sure that I've got this right? So that we're not taking an assumption in our head and making that their reality. So this is such an important tool in selling. And in my book, More Sales, Less Marketing, in the sales system that I've built and teach in that book, The first step of selling is listening. And here's why often people hate selling. Why? Because they think it starts with talking, because they've been talked at and sold at by people in the past, and they think, well, that's what selling is. And I have a term for that type of selling. I call it crocodile selling, because are there Crocodiles still on earth? Absolutely. But we are absolutely not in the age of the dinosaurs, and that type of selling is crocodile selling and does belong in the age of the dinosaurs, and their time is done. So the new form of selling is graceful and easy and honest and has to start with listening, which is why we've been focusing in on this this month. But as I've been working with the team, I really started to think about what, what are we actually listening for? And that inspired me to create a tool for the members inside my hub, and I'd love to share that, or just some insights on that with you. So if I bring that up here. There's 2 parts really to this tool. The first part is really thinking about you. In our business, we are absolutely allowed to focus in on the clients that we would love to work with. Not just enjoy, not just put up with, but actually love. And I really want you to think about that. Who do you love working with? What behaviors show you that this type of person is like that? What makes these clients fun? What gives you energy about them? So it's good to think about that positive, but also the shadow. What are these people not? What are the behaviors that are absolutely not? Okay, from people inside your business, clients inside your business, and it's okay to say no to these people. Better than okay, it's an absolute must because if you allow people who don't fit with you, your culture, and your business inside your business, then do you know what happens? They eat away at the soul of your business. They draw you away from the kindness and goodness. They they make your staff upset. They make you upset, and that just doesn't impact on you and your team and on that client. It impacts on the beautiful clients because imagine this scenario: you just get off the phone from a client who really gets you goat, and there's another call, or someone walks in the room and it's a client you love to work with. Are you at your best? Are you presenting the beautiful person that you are to them? No, it's tinged. It's it's shaded. By this experience that you've just had. So I implore you, if you've got people who suck the energy out of you and your business, now is the time to gracefully ask them to leave. So once we've thought about who they are, then we want to think about, well, what are we doing with them? So what does success in working together look like? And again, this isn't one-sided. It's success for you and your your team and the community and the world, and it's success for this client and their team and their environment. Who and what fills your cup? There are things that give us energy. I love working with my crew inside the Accelerate Sales Hub. They make me laugh. I love sharing ideas with them. And it really is just, um, a fantastic, a fantastic area that I, I, yeah, I just can't tell you how much I love working with them. Um, and so this is important. It's important to listen out for those cues and, and to set an intention that you will only work with clients that you love and you will Invest in them and they will invest in you. So the second side of what I've done then for this listening tool is then done a client-centric version. And this is something that people inside the hub can take to a sales meeting and have in front of them so that they remember to ask the questions, that they're listening in for the things that are important. So the first one is kind of setting their north. of their compass, and this is checking in whether this client is meeting that criteria or not. So on the second page, when we're thinking about our client, we want to think what anchors them, what is their North Star, their values, their purpose, why are they doing what they do, how do they work with their suppliers or partners or whatever the term is that they use, What's going on inside their business and what evidence can you see and markers can you see and what words do they use to describe and talk about their suppliers and the people that they work with? But not just the words, what is the emotion there? Because that's a real telling sign and in this I really Listen, not just for the words, but really to your gut. We all know when people rub us up the wrong way, and you need to listen to that. Once we've got a handle on who they are and what they do and they've passed that test, then we need to think about what is the work that we're going to be doing with them, which is the bottom side of the compass here. We have, um, some ideas around their frustrations and gaps, like what is happening in their business that is driving them towards working with you. And also on the flip side of that, where do they want to go? What are their dreams and aspirations? What sort of outcomes? What, what does success look like in you working together? And again, I just really encourage you that in this compass, the reason I developed the compass was to create balance. Because balance is such an important thing in business, and what we want to do is have a beautiful balanced balance in income, balance in energy, balance in the time that we spend in work and at home, and the other things that that we have to invest in in order to be balanced. So. I just really want to encourage you that if you're having some sales conversations or client conversations today, that before you start those conversations, stop and think about your compass. What is good? What is great? What are the things that you're looking for? What's your intention when it comes to client interactions? And then secondly, How, once you're in the meeting, how can you really focus in on the person who's in front of you and think about what is going on here? Is this person saying the things, doing the things, feeling the way, doing all of the things that actually mean that they are a good fit for you and your team and your business? So if getting better at listening, which is what we're focusing on this month, is something that you would really, really love to do, then I would love to share with you, uh, the insights and the masterclass and the Q&As and all the things that we've been working on inside the Accelerate Sales Hub. Um, and I'm doing a masterclass later in this month and also in November. And I'm working towards a cohort that want to get in and work with me in the hub. And because I've started to explore the American market, I'm actually maintaining my prices at the current price until Thanksgiving, which is the end of November, and then the prices will be going up. So I just love working with my crew, as I said, in the Accelerate Sales Hub. And if listening to more information and goodness on listening and all the other things that beautiful selling and great selling are about, then I would absolutely love to have you on board and Please feel free if you've got any questions, pop them in the, in the comments if that's going to work for you, or private message me if that feels easier for you. Either way, just, just give me a yell and I'm always happy to answer questions because when I'm listening, I really want to know what the questions are that you have and that I am able to answer those fully. So Thank you, and I hope you all have a beautiful day, and I look forward to seeing you again. Take care.
