The "Aha" Moment: How to master the key skill to close more sales

You might think the goal of your sales call is to get them to say "yes" you would be wrong.

Saying "yes" is the reward for reaching the real goal of your sales call, which is to get them to have an epiphany, a realization.

An "a-ha" moment.

There is a key skill you can master to reach this goal on more sales calls. It's something we are all capable of doing. We have the main tool- in fact most of us have two. It's active listening.

The act of listening is becoming a lost art, especially in the world of marketing. we think in terms of client funnels, click bait, passive income, and playing the algorithm. We're gamified the client journey and lost sight of the basic truth: sales is about communication.

Your prospect has a problem, you have a solution. Your competitor has the same solution. Your prospect has tried similar solutions and didn't get results. Or your prospect likes your solution, but has concerns about the cost. And a host of other unspoken factors at play.

Your features and benefits sales pitch that you use on everyone is not the best tool to navigate the complicated maze known as the human decision-making process. Active listening is.

Here are three ways to use active listening in your sales strategy.

# 1 The first person you need to listen to is yourself. Get in the habit of asking "who do I want to serve and how?" We all have a client avatar in mind, but how often do you get granular with the specific problems you're really good at solving?

My three-second pitch is "I get you on TV." But there are certain stories and pitches I simply don't get excited for. If you want a pitch on your product launch, I'm happy to show you how. I am not the best person to promote a product. But if your product is a new invention with an incredible founder story, now we have enough layers to activate my full creative powers!

When I meet with prospective clients.I spend a lot of time learning the story they want to tell. I'm deciding if it's one I actually want to tell before I suggest how we can work together.

You avatar and ideal client are great guides for business development. The next layer on top of that is: who benefits most from your full attention?

Who do you want to serve and how?

#2. Listen for the blocks, not the problem You know your client pain points. You know the problem you solve. After all, they contacted you because your marketing highlights. the problem you solve.

Your solution is not the "Aha" moment. It isn't even the nuanced differences in how your solution is better than the competition.

Your prospect knows your solution. What they're not aware of is how they are creating the problem for themselves. How their beliefs are creating the blocks. Listen for this and ask thought-provoking question: "Why do you think this is?" "In your words, why aren't you seeing results?"

I'm seeing this a lot in clients who want me to coach them on their social media. They follow advice everyone is following. They're following dated advice. Most often. they bought someone else's framework, followed each step exactly and gave up when they didn't see results fast enough. I might ask "when following someone else's strategy, how did you determine what felt right for you and how you want to create?"

Or if they come to me because they want to be on TV, I'll simply ask "doing what?"

This insight into the role they play in their results deepens our connection. It's no longer a conversation about what I can do for you. It's about how I can help you do something different, to create better and long-lasting results.

With every problem we have, there is something we are doing ourselves that is keeping us from solving it. When you can uncover this belief, they'll see themselves differently, they'll see their problem differently, and they'll see your solution differently.

#3. Listen for where you are not the solution. The world of communications is complicated and nuanced, especially when it comes to business.

I've talked myself out of new business many times because the client was not ready for my work. If there's no way for you to capitalize on accessing a larger audience, then you're not creating business, you're creating noise.

In these cases I refer these businesses to colleagues who can help them with more immediate needs until they are ready to work with me. It doesn't help me or my business to onboard a client before they're ready.

I don't stop there. I've spent a lot of time listening to people who want TV exposure, but when we peel back the layers of why they want TV, their problem is usually in their organic social media Their own media is not serving their business, and they think TV will solve it.

The more I work to correct this belief, the more I realize I need to help people with this too. I've opened up a whole new way of serving clients by showing how to produce content like a TV producer. It brings me back to my first question - who do I want to serve and how?

Because sometimes in your business, the person who needs the "a-ha" moment is you.