🚀 Closing Deals with Active Listening: A Lesson Learned! 🚀

Let me share a story about a game-changing sales deal I closed in Paris. It was a high-stakes situation, involving crucial meetings with top brass at the headquarters. To ensure success, I brought along my investor, who's a seasoned pro at sealing deals worth up to 20 million euros like it's a walk in the park 😎.

Now, I had my arsenal of slides ready, all set to impress the French director and secure the deal with their company. I was smart enough not to lead the conversation. Instead, I let them talk first.

With my investor's wealth of experience, I expected some serious magic to unfold. But you know what? He simply started asking questions and listening, while the director kept on talking... No fancy tricks, just good old active listening.

I threw in a few comments here and there, flashed a couple of slides, but it was mostly investor asking questions and the director sharing his thoughts.

And guess what? We closed the deal! That whole experience taught me a valuable lesson in sales.

If you're facing friction in your client interactions or deals are falling through for no apparent reason, it might be because you're not really listening to what they're saying.

I've noticed a trend when I analyze calls on diagnostics sessions—sometimes we're just waiting for our turn to talk, instead of really hearing what the other person is saying. Tools like HubSpot's CRM can help you analyze call data, showing you who's doing most of the talking. Give it a shot sometime!

Why is listening so important, you ask?

1) When we listen, we find out what really matters to the client, which helps us position our solution better.

2) It makes people feel good when you're genuinely interested in what they have to say. Everyone loves a good listener, right?

3) when we listen attentively, it shows that we're genuinely interested in helping out. It's like disarming them with kindness.

So, next time you're in a sales pitch, remember to lend an ear. Who knows, you might just leave a lasting impression and win them over not just with your numbers, but with your heart too🙂