Listen, Learn, Lead

Sometimes the most important lessons are the simplest.  And this one is one of them; very topical yet rooted in the oldest traditions of selling.

The 44th individual President of our country, was recently quoted as saying, “The United States came here to to listen, to learn and to lead because all of us have a responsibility to do our parts,” as the NATO summit in Strasbourg wrapped up on this past week.

With this new agenda, he effectively re-positioned the United States out of the lecturer into the listen, learn and lead role; far more palatable to the rest of the world at this stage of the game.  He side-stepped any embedded resistance and most importantly, he captured their attention and ignited their imagination.

It was a great marketing plan; with a reference to a now-familiar phrase, “learn to listen and listen to learn” and a easy to apply, three-step plan – perfect for any selling activity; as simple as it is important:

1. LISTEN
2. LEARN
3. LEAD

Each concept depends on the others.  They all have to be used in the order they are listed.  But it is the interdependency that makes them unique.

First, look at this in reverse: You can’t lead the prospect unless you first learn what they need and want. Also, it’s impossible to discover what their problems unless you first listen to them.

As any salesperson knows, you have to ask questions and then actively listen to the customer to discover where their “pain” is.  It has often been said that if you’re doing all the talking, you’ll only come away with what you already knew to begin with and never find out what they need and want.

So, if you ask questions designed to interest the client, engage their attention, stimulate their imagination, you’re well on your way to an easy sale.  You’ve contacted the person, found out what they’re interested in, lead them to the point where they see the benefit of doing business with you.

But there is one more invisible ingredient to this recipe necessary for any hope of success. If you assume that you know best what is good for the client, you’re setting yourself up for failure.  You will be far better served if you assume you don’t know what is best for the client, as a starting point.  This way, you’ll find yourself able to apply the three-step program of listen, learn and lead to it’s greatest potential.

There is never any guarantee that any sales tool will work in every situation.  But, I can assure you that omitting one of these three ingredients (listen, learn, lead) will come as close as anything to a guarantee that you will lose the sale!

So, do it the easy way. Just remember to follow each of these three steps, in this order: LISTEN, LEARN, LEAD.

You’ll have happier clients and easier sales closes. And that is worth it, isn’t it?

daniel w. jacobs
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