Increase Lead Generation Through Careful Listening

One of the best ways to increase lead generation starts with active listening.
Active listening is hard work, but you can follow a simple process to make it effective every time.
The key is to apply it in all interactions, not just sales meetings.
This includes online conversations via social media.
Smart Funnel applies careful listening in our lead generation efforts.

Everyone who’s been in sales for longer than a few minutes knows that few activities are more important than listening to your prospects. When we say listening, though, we’re not just talking about hearing. We’re talking about actively participating in the conversation, even though the other person is doing most of the talking. But it’s a special kind of participation, one that increases understanding. We know that it increases the odds of a sale, but did you know that you can also use it to increase lead generation?

How Does Active Listening Work?

Active listening takes effort. If you’re doing it right, you’ll feel a little tired afterward. It’s not relaxing, but it’s definitely rewarding.

Michael E. Rega, of the Ecliptic Consulting Group, recommends an approach to active listening that you can summarize with the acronym “CLEAR.”

The first step is to Commit to listening. Real listening doesn’t work unless you’re intentional about it. So, you have to go into the conversation already with this approach in mind.

Next is to actually Listen. Make sure that your full attention goes to what the other person is trying to tell you. Don’t think about your own response or anything else you might want to do or say. It’s 100% about them, not you. Be sure to consider their tone and how that might affect the meaning of their actual words.

Third, Evaluate. This means taking the time to identify the ideas that the person is trying to convey. We don’t always say what we mean in the most ideal way, but others can figure it out if they listen carefully, which has to include the next two steps.

Critically, to listen carefully, we must Acknowledge and paraphrase. Using our own words to re-explain the idea that we understood is how we signal to the person that we really were listening to them. It also makes their ideas stick better in our minds. This is the step that people most often leave out, because they merely assume that they understood, without actually checking.

The last step, the check itself, is called Respond and test. This is where, after acknowledging and paraphrasing, we directly ask if our understanding is correct. If it is, we can continue listening or ask a follow-up question. If not, we can ask for clarification. That makes this last step the one where active listening really moves the conversation in the right direction. It depends on doing all of the other steps, though!

CLEAR: Commit, Listen, Evaluate, Acknowledge, Respond. It’s simple, but not easy. It’s also absolutely worth the effort.

Listening is Important in Every Interaction

You should get into the habit of listening carefully to everyone you come into contact with.

Sales professionals may have the tendency to focus on active listening only in the context of a sales call or presentation. The best salespeople don’t think of active listening as a mere technique, though.

They think of it as a way of life.

For them, listening carefully to other people is both the right thing to do and a powerful way to discover new opportunities.

Careful listening shows the other person that you value them, their time, and their thoughts. If you’re willing to make the effort to acknowledge what they said and confirm your understanding of it, it’s clear that it’s important to you.

And when people feel that they are important to you, they’re more likely to be interested in what you can do for them.

Listening to Increase Lead Generation

So that brings us to the crux of the matter. How does active listening lead to more leads, as well as more sales down the road?

You can increase lead generation both by listening carefully in your everyday interactions and phone calls by applying CLEAR. Listening like that makes people much more interested in what you do. They’ll be much happier to sit down for a presentation and provide references, knowing that they and their associates are important to you.

What about the digital world, though? How do you “listen” to generate leads online?

It’s really only a little bit different.

One technology company out there, called Sprout Social, provides tools to simplify what they call “social listening.” They describe social listening as a matter of being proactive about seeking and making connections.

Instead of being on the lookout solely for keywords or brand mentions, you’re gathering information based on the overall sentiment and tone of conversations going on about your brand or industry on social.
Through social listening, you can better understand:
-What your audience wants.
-Whether or not specific campaigns are successful.
-The overall sentiment about your brand on social.
-Trends that affect your brand or industry
Social listening allows you to find the exact problems and challenges your target audience has, and then create solutions to offer them that are based in the value proposition of your brand.
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-listening-sales-leads/

Take a look at their page and see how their social listening solution might help you find more and better ways to interact with your market.

Smart Funnel Helps You Increase Lead Generation the Right Way

At Smart Funnel, we believe in the power of listening. Not only do we give strict attention to every person we speak with on your behalf, but we also listen carefully to your own needs and requirements.

We make sure that we increase lead generation for your brands through smart connections and affiliate partnerships.

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