Ryan Dohrn says most salespeople hear but don't listen. Instead of leaning forward ready to interrupt with rehearsed answers, sit back, take notes, and let prospects finish. Ask someone for honest feedback on your listening skills.
Hey friends, Ryan Dohrn here, your global sales coach. How's your week going out there in sales land? Uh, not so good? Well, maybe it's because you're not listening. Maybe you're not paying attention. And I ask people all the time, I'll say, hey, are you a good listener? They'll say, well, yeah, great, I'm a great listener. Really? Because I met your spouse or partner or whatever last week, they said you're not such a good listener. Here's the thing I observe out there— and that was a joke, by the way— here's some things I observe out there in sales land. I'm on a sales call with one of my clients and the sales rep is listening, but are they really listening? They're kind of leaning forward and they're— they look like they're ready to pounce. I can see it in the Zoom call, like they're ready to pounce. Friends, you've got to listen with the intent to really listen. People hate it when you jump right in. Of course they hate it when you interrupt, but I don't find that salespeople really listen with the intent to deeply understand. Exactly what it is that client is saying, what that client is really asking for. And 10, instead, we tend to give rote answers, answers we've given 1,000 times. Let's be honest, out there in sales land, we've probably heard it all, right? We've probably heard it all. So we've heard the question before, we know the answer we're going to give, so we're kind of lunging forward. We're like, you're just waiting for them to— for a little break so you can jump in and give them the answer. Most people hate that. Instead, I would say almost all people hate that. Instead, I want you to consider kind of sitting back. Use some facial— I like to do this a lot. Yep. Oh, that's good. That's good. You know, I like to say, I'm going to make note of that. That's a good one. I'm going to make note of that. And then look down and make notes or act like you're making notes, whatever the circumstance is. The goal of this tip is, friends, listen with the intent to really listen and deeply understand and listen to what that client is saying. If you think you're a great listener, ask somebody else and they'll really give you the truth, the real answer. But can you handle the truth? That really is the question that you need answered. All right, friends, don't forget, if ad sales was easy, if sales was easy, everybody'd be doing it, and they're not. Friends, we're the chosen few. We found a career here that will feed our families for a lifetime. Hey, if I can be of help to you, train your team, speak at a sales conference, whatever the circumstances, reach out to me over at ryandohrn.com. All right, friends, we'll see you next week.
