In this age of readily available information, your salespeople need to change the way they used to interact with their prospects. Studies say most customers read online reviews and comparisons before coming to a physical store. That’s exactly why they don’t need a salesperson to know the product features and pricing. Instead, they might require customized help. But providing customized assistance to customers is not easy. It requires active listening. If your salespeople don’t listen to your customers actively, they won’t be able to offer tailed help. Here are some ways you can help your salespeople improve their active listening skills.

Focus on listening

One common problem with salespeople is that they listen but don’t hear. They wait for their turn to speak so that they push their agenda on the customer. This technique has to change. So tell your salespeople to concentrate on what the customer is saying. If required, they can ask questions to understand the customer’s thoughts, needs or concerns. Active listening is a skill and it can be improved with training. You can consider booking training room rentals or classroom rentals to organize training events for your sales team.

Hold the urge to interrupt

Salespeople are often tempted to interrupt the customer in the middle of their talking. This shows that they don’t value the other person’s opinion. If you don’t take the time to listen to your customer’s pain points, you are not sincere about solving their problem. So ask your salespersons to stop interrupting the customer. Instead, they should allow them to speak more.

Validate your understanding

Even when you listen carefully, you may miss certain points or have gaps in your understanding. In that case, it is important to ask follow-up questions to the customer. One good idea is to paraphrase the points in your own words so that the customer can validate your understanding instantly.