Active listening is a process that can be practiced to perfection. It involves three steps, with a focus on the third:

Let’s break these down.

As a good active listener, it’s important to fully understand what people are telling you.

Going into any sales conversation, you should already have a basic idea of what type of buyer persona you’ll be chatting with and how to pitch your product as a good fit for their needs.

This is not to say, however, that you get a pass on step one. Comprehension is about more than just hearing the prospect’s words. To comprehend what a speaker is saying, you must try to put yourself in their position and internalize their reality. Ask yourself:

A good active listener can retain and recall specific conversational details to keep a conversation progressing and show that they’re engaged. But this process becomes more difficult after a full day of sales chats.

So it’s important to keep notes of what was said during the chat. Then if the customer gets in touch again, you have accurate details to refer to. 

Factual information should always be recorded, such as purchasing timelines and special requests. But observational points like interest levels, personality traits, and hesitations can also be useful.

Taking a few moments after each chat to recap and evaluate the deal will help your sales performance. It’s the hallmark of a professional and will lead you on to greater things.

What makes active listening an especially-effective way of building empathy and trust is the tactical act of responding.

In online chats, you can’t acknowledge the prospect like you would in a face-to-face conversation. So you need to be sure you respond using the three levels of acknowledgment:

Affirmations let the speaker know you’re present in the chat. These include typing statements like “I understand,” and “I see” among a long list of others. Insert these phrases during natural pauses in the conversation.

By reflecting on prospects’ ideas in your own words, you let them know you’ve internalized what they said. This projects thoughtfulness and respectfulness on your part, but it also makes the speaker feel like they’re making valid points.

When people hear their own thoughts articulated by the listener, they feel understood. And someone who feels understood is much more inclined to buy.

Questioning is the third and final level. When customers have made their points, a good listener will encourage them to continue leading the way. Responses should be on-topic and promote complete answers. Examples include:

When engaged in active listening, it’s important to keep the conversation focused on the prospect. Don’t be tempted to add your own personal stories. This is called Shift Response, and it can kill your sales.

Instead, you need to practice Support Response, where you’re showing real concern and empathy. You ask questions to understand in greater depth what happened to the buyer. Your support response is a trigger for a more in-depth conversation.

Now, let’s see how this works in a sales chat. A buyer says she is having a problem; she can’t do XYZ with her existing service provider. As the seller, you might think you are being helpful by responding with:

“Yes, we see this all the time. A lot of our buyers have had the same problem and use our solution to help them do XYZ.”

See what you just did? You thought you were being helpful by saying that you’d helped other customers solve a similar problem. 

But what really happened is that you shifted the focus of the conversation from the buyer to you before you took the opportunity to more fully understand the problem the buyer was experiencing.

A key source of value that you, as a seller, can provide to your buyer is to make them feel heard and understood. A Shift Response makes that difficult for you to do.

Instead of being impatient and jumping into talking about yourself, default to a Support Response. “I understand that can be frustrating. Whatงs preventing you from doing XYZ with your existing system?”

Shift Response or Support Response. One leads to a dead end. The other is a trigger for more in-depth discovery and connection.

Combating the sales stereotypes is easy for sales chat agents who learn how to listen in a positive and empathetic way. Humility and respect win deals far more often than aggressive techniques. Practicing active listening outside of work will help you solidify the principles.

Prospects have goals and desires, and they want to be heard. You'll be one step closer to your goals if you listen and respond effectively.