Do your salespeople know how to use all of their powers?

There’s an old proverb that goes something like this: “to listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well.” Listening is a skill that can make or break a salesperson, yet few organizations incent them to be good at it. Instead they reward breaking quota and bringing in revenues.

Now don’t get me wrong. Results are great, but shouldn’t you position at least part of your program for your sales incentive contest to help salespeople develop (and perfect) the listening skills they need? The kind that get them to “yes” more buyers?

To be successful on a consistent basis, reps need to listen to obtain more than information. They need to understand the real reasons people buy and they need to pass those on to their support teams.

With social recognition you can promote listening. By rewarding reps for refreshing their skills, taking online lessons and passing quizzes you are paving the way for better listening. Then you can follow by giving others the ability to comment on your salespeople’s preparedness. Did they provide the team with the type of guidance and insight that can only be garnered by effective listening? Did they learn, qualify and then explain all the nuances of the buyer’s decision process? Then finally, you can model how their listening skills helped drive results so others can learn from and emulate that skill.