How to Use Active Listening for a Successful (Non-Salesy) Sales Pitch

When you hear the phrase “sales pitch”, what’s the first thought that springs to mind? Pushy? Boring? Or if you’re a business owner, maybe “a necessary evil?”

I received a LinkedIn message recently from someone who had developed a product they thought might benefit my clients. I was interested to learn more, so I set up a discovery call with them.

The first 12 minutes of the call were completely focused on them. They spoke without stopping, telling me about themselves, their offering, and all the benefits. I didn’t have the chance to get a word in edgewise.

They didn’t ask me a single question about:

Myself
My business
The clients I work with

Nor did they tell me how their offering might help me deliver a better service to my clients.

12 minutes of listening.

12 minutes where I was mostly thinking, "where does this fit in with me? Is this something I could use? How is it relevant to my business?"

Instead of making me curious about their product, they confused me and made the process difficult. So, in the end, I had no interest in buying.

Man smiling with quote "if you confuse you'll lose"

How could they have done it differently?

Ideally, they would at least have done some background research before our call. They could have checked out my website or my social media to familiarise themselves with what I do and who I work with.

But even without that, if they’d started the call by saying,

"Tell me a little about your business. What type of clients do you serve? What kind of issues and challenges do they deal with? Why do they come to you, and what do they want to achieve from working with you?”

Then that call might have ended very differently.

A simple way to make your prospects feel heard and understood

I had an intro call with a potential client recently. At the end of it (before he signed up to work with me), he said,

"You seem to get where I'm coming from better than I do myself."

I asked questions to learn about his challenges with speaking publicly, speaking up at work and leading meetings. And I asked him to explain how that was impacting him now and how he thought it might affect his potential career advancement.

I listened carefully to his answers and reflected his language back to him. So in the end, he felt that I understood him, knew where he was coming from, and that I would be the right person to help him.

Two similar scenarios. Two very different outcomes.

The power of active listening

Many of my clients hate the idea of giving a sales pitch. And that’s often down to how they perceive it. The idea of cramming everything you possibly can about your business into a very tight timeframe understandably feels like a lot of pressure.

But that’s not what a sales pitch is about.

Instead of a broadcast, think of your sales pitch as a chance to ask questions, get to know your potential customer better and experiment with “active listening”.

Active listening means listening with all your senses and concentrating fully on what the person speaking to you is saying rather than what you’re going to say next. And it’s a skill that you can improve on with practice. You might like to read my 7 Tips to Boost Your Active Listening Skills to help you with that.

A new way to approach your sales pitch

Practise actively listening to your potential customer and asking considered questions. Then mirror their answers back to them, so they’re reassured that you empathise with them and understand where they’re coming from.

For example, let’s say you’re a career coach and you’re speaking to a potential client who says,

“I feel like I’ve been bouncing from job to job for years. It starts off great, but it doesn’t take long before I’m doing the same thing day in and day out. Then I get frustrated and bored, thinking I could do more with my life.”

You might say:

“It sounds like you’re looking for a career that will challenge you and give you the chance to use all your skills and experience to really make an impact. Have I got that right?”

Developing effective listening skills doesn’t just make it easier to convert prospects to clients. It takes the pressure off the whole “sales” element of the process. Now you won’t feel pushy or too salesy because instead of talking at your potential customer, it’s just a conversation with a natural two-way flow.

And when people feel you’ve taken the time to put yourself in their shoes, they’re far more likely to think,

“Yes, this product could be good for me. This service is exactly what I need.”

It all starts with asking questions.

A sales pitch that sells without “selling”

Let’s recap with 3 simple steps to follow for an effective (non-salesy) sales pitch:

1. Practice active listening by giving your prospect the space to speak about their challenges and what they need.

2. Ask thoughtful, clarifying questions to help you understand their issues, what they need help with and why they have come to speak to you.

3. Reflect back your potential customer’s challenges in similar language, so they’re reassured that you understand their situation, you empathise, and have solutions that will work for them.

Effective communication is a two-way process, and that’s critical when it comes to your sales presentations and discovery calls. Asking questions, listening carefully to the answers and then tweaking your pitch to show how your offering is relevant will set you up for a far more successful sales pitch every time.

I work with business owners and professionals who want to learn how to present themselves with confidence without feeling salesy. If this is something you’d like help with, you can schedule an intro call (where I’ll ask you lots of questions!) here.