Struggling to Sell? Here’s 5 Listening Habits to Improve Your Sales

Let’s face it: Selling is hard. But developing the right listening habits to improve your sales doesn’t have to be.

Think about your last sales interaction.  

 Whether it was in-person, online, or over the phone, how did it go? 

• Were you too focused on the pitch to notice how it landed?

• Were you preoccupied with plotting your next move to absorb customer pain points?  

• Did you leave a warm lead feeling cold?   

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above, you may be replaying the tape in your head, trying to figure out what went wrong, and wondering: Is there something I could have done differently?  

Rather than focus too intently on what you did or didn’t say, consider what you did or didn’t hear.

Or better yet, take it one step further: were you really listening to your customer?

Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered.

But first, let’s discuss Active Listening and where it falls short.

When Active Listening Isn’t Enough

For those who’ve been worshiping at the altar of active listening, this could be a difficult question to answer. Seemingly overnight, listening became a one-size-fits-all practice that, if applied at scale, would always yield positive results.   

This could not be further from the truth. 

In fact, developing strong presentation skills and constructing the perfect pitch deck is only half the battle to nurturing customer trust. The myth of active listening muddies the proper depth needed for a successful conversation, namely that strong speakers and listeners are required on both sides of the equation.  

And this goes double for sales professionals. 

But if situations can vary widely on a case-by-case basis, what’s the best listening strategy for sales? In other words: What listening strategies lead to sales success? 

Top Listening Habits to Improve Your Sales

While there’s no right way to listen, several common listening habits can improve your sales and prevent you from leaving money on the table. It starts with widening your scope.

Think Beyond the Pitch  

When sales professionals picture their next deal, many focus on the pitch. From crafting the perfect pitch deck to landing the right balance between data and information, it’s easy to get lost in the performance. While this approach can help develop a sales presentation rich in visual storytelling, it risks overlooking core communication best practices. 

Instead of emphasizing the front end, plan for after that last slide hits the screen. That’s when the real maneuvering begins, and you have the fruitful opportunity to lock in the sale. That’s your time to shine.  

Before picking up the phone or opening that Zoom window, imagine what could lie ahead in the customer interaction and how you could mitigate those outcomes. In Adaptive Listening, we call this focusing your Listening L.E.N.S., which is a helpful acronym for remembering the elements of a conversation you can control for, such as: 

Your Listening L.E.N.S. covers everything from your demeanor in an interaction (Listener), where the conversation is taking place (the Environment), the reaction to information (the News), and any details to consider about who’s doing the talking (the Speaker). 

By envisioning these components ahead of time, you’ll be able to predict the trajectory of a sale better and approach potential hurdles with nimble confidence. Just like practicing your pitch before getting in front of a potential buyer, adding a little foresight to focus your L.E.N.S. can put you in the right frame of mind to rise to the occasion. 

Don’t Listen to Speak  

Blowhards. Windbags.  

We’ve all been around people who love to hear themselves speak. While exhausting, this can also be costly when left unchecked in a sales department. Conversations are meant to be two-way experiences, where the speaker and listener trade information and foster a deeper interpersonal connection.  

Any customer made to spend too long breathing in hot air will likely take their business elsewhere. 

Spending too much time waiting for your next opportunity to speak can also limit your ability to absorb crucial customer information. Think of the difference between applying Adaptive Listening strategies and priming your response for the next break in the conversation. Which conditions are ideal for absorbing crucial details or responding empathetically to your customer? 

While it’s easy for sales to boil down to profits and pipeline, it’s important to remember that human relationships are needed to break through the noise and nudge a contract over the finish line. 

By focusing more time and adjusting your listening style, you’ll be better positioned to understand and meet your customers’ needs.

Respond to Customer Cues  

You can better parse your customers’ verbal and nonverbal cues by leaving more breathing room in the conversation. Being more present for your customers can also help you decide which listening style to use to meet their evolving needs. 

Duarte’s Adaptive Listening methodology identifies four key listening types that can be easily applied to any customer interaction: 

So, how do you know what type of listening your customer needs? 

• While a sales call is no substitute for therapy, downcast eyes or heavy sighs could signal that using Support Listening could meet an emotional need and/or establish trust. 

• Signs of impatience, like a quick speech cadence or furtive eye movement, could suggest Advance Listening is needed to move the pitch or sale forward. 

• Customers who launch into lengthy descriptions of their problems or needs present an opportunity for Immerse Listening to soak up information for future sales moments. 

• When a customer asks for your opinion on a solution, Discern Listening can help ensure you present the right tailored offering. 

Verbal and nonverbal cues are key indicators that can help you identify the right listening style, adapt your technique, and, when appropriate, mirror customer emotions. Choosing the right approach requires understanding the context of a customer interaction and taking steps to meet the moment. 

However, it’s essential to adapt your style as soon as possible as the conversation unfolds. Staying on your toes helps you follow along closely and focus on what is not being said.  

Listen Between the Lines  

Along with looking for verbal and non-verbal cues, listening for what your customer is not saying is another tool for taking your sales interactions to new depths. Like reading between the lines for subtext, an effective salesperson can suss out underlying implications from customer statements. 

Take the following customer interaction: 

Salesperson: I noticed your department has not renewed your annual subscription to our software suite. Is there anything I can do to help? 

Customer: Thanks. We’re re-evaluating our internal needs and are waiting for key decision-makers. 

Salesperson: I see. What can I do to get you to renew your subscription today? 

Customer: I’m unsure if it’s the right fit for us in the future, but we should know soon. 

Salesperson: How about we take 30% off? What do you say? 

Customer: That’s very generous, but I’ll still have to consider it. 

Given the above, is the salesperson drawing the correct conclusions from their customer? What alternate approaches could be garnered from listening between the lines? 

The customer is in flux regarding the subscription service and needs approval from colleagues before proceeding with the renewal. Given this, should the salesperson have continued pressing for the sale? 

A better approach would have been to flip the conversation around to determine why the offering may not be meeting customers’ needs. This would have provided valuable feedback for improving the service and saved untold resources spent on troubleshooting. 

Moreover, the salesperson could take this opportunity to learn more about key decision-makers and shore up data about their customer accounts. This could help the salesperson provide information to fill in the gaps and secure leadership buy-in. 

See how many possibilities exist when you listen between the lines? 

Now, let’s try that interaction again: 

Salesperson: I noticed your department has not renewed your annual subscription to our software suite. Is there anything I can do to help? 

Customer: Thanks. We’re re-evaluating our internal needs and are waiting for key decision-makers. 

Salesperson: I see. Is there any information I could prepare to help? 

Customer: Well, we’re in the process of reorienting our website strategy and need greater visibility across a few KPIs to grade efficiency. 

Salesperson: Not a problem. Send along a wish list, and I’ll make a quick presentation. 

Customer: That would be great! This will help expedite the process. 

With this practice, sales conversations can redirect toward actual customer pain points and reveal valuable discoveries along the way. While this may require deviating from sales scripts designed for a quick close, giving your customers leeway can create the necessary space to uncover what’s at stake.  

Let Your Leads Lead  

Let’s return to the end of the pitch. What now? An excellent listening strategy is to let your customer take the lead and guide the next steps of the interaction.  

• Do they have questions about a product or service? 

• Do they want to relay a current problem or frustration? 

• Do they want clarification on a previous slide?

Rather than tethering the conversation to a prescribed course, an effective sales interaction should allow the customer to share their concerns, ask questions, and, if desired, tread into personal territory to deepen or establish rapport. This loosens the parameters of the exchange and enables buyer and seller to connect on a human level and, if the vibe resonates, develop a lasting bond predicated on trust and mutual respect. 

Sometimes, this means letting small talk linger or resisting the urge to continually advance toward closing the sale. Allowing these moments to develop naturally can help you better understand customer pain points and even cement long-term business relationships. 

When combined with the other four habits listed above, customers can exit sales interactions feeling fulfilled on both personal and professional levels, and sellers can see the bump in their quarterly reports. 

Adaptive Listening Habits to Improve Your Sales

After learning the above listening habits to improve your sales, it’s clear there’s no one way to listen. Listening is most successful when it is a highly reactive practice that considers the Listener, Environment, News, and Speaker’s needs and strives to foster a generative, two-way experience.   

In short, active listening isn’t enough. 

That’s why our Adaptive Listening methodology presents alternative strategies that speak to the vast array of emotional and practical needs encountered across relationships. Just as outfits should meet the weather, listening should always strive to be flexible and accommodating to the speaker.  

Now, think back to your last sales interaction again. Take a moment to consider: How could Adaptive Listening strategies have worked to improve that outcome? And better yet, how could they continue to yield success?  

When you’ve done your part as an Adaptive Listener, customers will feel seen, respected, and empowered to take the sales relationship to the next level.  

But your work doesn’t stop there.  

Like going to the gym, listening well requires constant maintenance to stay in peak form. For more information on Adaptive Listening, sign up for one of our immersive training sessions or dive into Adaptive Listening: How to Cultivate Trust and Traction at Work to read at your own pace.