What the Research Says
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 9:53 am
2. Connecting: listening helps us build critical rapport and trust. Customers are more likely to share intimate (and more helpful) details of their business challenges with us if they feel connected.
3. Reciprocity: when we listen to people and demonstrate an interest in their content and consideration of their feelings, it makes it more likely that they’ll want to listen to us. It also demonstrates empathy towards the other person.
It’s not surprising that in a recent Salesforce State of Sales Report, when salespeople were asked to list factors which they felt had an extreme or substantial impact on converting a prospect to a customer, listening topped the list.
And good listening isn’t simply all about feel-good cayman islands telegram data sentiment. There are quantifiable sales performance benefits as well!
After listening to over 25,000 sales calls, the team at Gong.io, published a study illustrating the highest converting talk-to-listen ratio in sales. What did they find? The top closers talk 46% of the time compared to the bottom 20% which speak 72% of the time.
Interestingly, recent research also demonstrates what I suspect many of us intuitively knew, which is that women do a much better job in this category than their male counterparts, leading to an average 8% increase in quota attainment.
Even when it comes to leadership, listening is a key ingredient for high-performing teams. In fact, a recent study found that managers who listen well are perceived as better leaders, generate more trust with their team members, instill higher job satisfaction, and increase their team’s creativity.
But despite how critical this skill is, listening is hard for many of us.
3. Reciprocity: when we listen to people and demonstrate an interest in their content and consideration of their feelings, it makes it more likely that they’ll want to listen to us. It also demonstrates empathy towards the other person.
It’s not surprising that in a recent Salesforce State of Sales Report, when salespeople were asked to list factors which they felt had an extreme or substantial impact on converting a prospect to a customer, listening topped the list.
And good listening isn’t simply all about feel-good cayman islands telegram data sentiment. There are quantifiable sales performance benefits as well!
After listening to over 25,000 sales calls, the team at Gong.io, published a study illustrating the highest converting talk-to-listen ratio in sales. What did they find? The top closers talk 46% of the time compared to the bottom 20% which speak 72% of the time.
Interestingly, recent research also demonstrates what I suspect many of us intuitively knew, which is that women do a much better job in this category than their male counterparts, leading to an average 8% increase in quota attainment.
Even when it comes to leadership, listening is a key ingredient for high-performing teams. In fact, a recent study found that managers who listen well are perceived as better leaders, generate more trust with their team members, instill higher job satisfaction, and increase their team’s creativity.
But despite how critical this skill is, listening is hard for many of us.