Episode at Chennai to understand importance of listening in sales

After my learning period with Fortune Retreats, I joined With Gati Cargo Management Services.
There my task was  to generate  business from existing customers and also adding new Clients.
By the time I joined Gati,I took deliberate initiative to improve my communication skills.

I could say that there I was performing at average level.

I could not add  much good clients even though I  identified potential customers.
The biggest irony was that many of them were very friendly with me.I spent time with them talking about
my company,our services,etc etc
But  I could not close the deal in many cases.

On rewinding the situations where I failed to close, I  realised that I failed to understand the customer needs.
This made me to hit blind folded with out knowing where exactly to hit.

Learnings:
 Effective communication is only a part of effective selling. There is a misconception that if a person speaks well, it means that he or she has good communication skills.But in reality, communication is both ways – speaking and listening. 

You cannot sell, unless you understand what the customer needs.

Understanding comes only through listening.

In any sales cycle, you should ask a short question and keep listening.

Listening happens through both your eyes and ears because you keep observing what’s happening.

Listening is the most important skill in selling.

The key point is that you cannot sell unless you understand the customer and understanding comes only through questioning and listening.

My first sales Experience

I started my sales Career with Fortune Retreats . There I was given the task of selling time shares.
To be honest I was not successful as a sales man with that company.
I could not sell not even a single unit during my tenure of two months with the organisation.

Why I could not sell ?

I understood that the resorts under this company were under construction.
I did not know the credibility of  the product.
So I did not target any of  my relatives or people known to me,  as I was not sure about the product.
But I tried all out in open Market.
I prospected the upper class of the society.
Made a big list of prospects,Filtered them, followed up them  rigorously, but all in vein.

The failure made me to sit  and think,why I could not sell.

I found that the problem lies in my  presentation of  the product before the prospect  and Sales closing.


Learnings : When a sales Man is not convinced about  the product that he  sells, he will not be able to convince the prospect to take a buying decision.

My all time advice to all in sales profession is to have the  product knowledge which will give you the product confidence.