I am senior at Western Michigan University studying interpersonal communication, and I have minor in Psychology. When I graduate I will be an employee at Pfizer Corporation. I will be working as a health care

representative, and my career advancement will depend solely on my selling abilities. I will be selling Pharmaceuticals to doctors in the metro Detroit area. After conducting some research I learned the importance of listening skills and it’s effects on sale performance. According to www.wanerdevelopment.com, “Listening continues to be identified as the most important selling skill in today’s healthcare environment.” In my paper I will prove why listening is so important to sales performance. I will outline three different stages of listening. I then will explain each one in detail. Some of the topics I will discuss are why we listen the way we do, how to recognize signs, and finally tips on how you can break your old listening habits.

According to www.ridge.com/lssp.htm, much of a salesperson's success depends on his or her ability to listen. Poor listening skills can result in missed opportunities, alienated prospects, and loss of profits. Po

The second reason why people are victims to passive listening is their pre-existing condition. Pre-existing conditions are things that have occupied our mind prior to the conversation. This takes our attention away from the current conversation and forces us to passive listen. This is also very true with ineffective salespeople. The salesperson has a life outside of work and many things can occupy their mind other than the current sale that they’re working on.

or listening skills can cost American business’s billions of dollars, and it is one of the primary causes of a salesperson failure (Ramsey, Rosemary; Sohi, Ravipreet). In order to be a top producing salesperson you need to have superior listening skills. Good listening skills show commitment, caring, interest, respect, and builds rapport with your clients (www.selfgrowth.com). All of these listening skills are essential to closing a sale.

In my paper I discussed the importance of listening and it’s affects on sales performance. It is clear through all of my evidence that listening is a very important aspect of sales. I not only learned that it is essential to sales, but I also learned that there are three different stages to listening. I learned what each of the three stages meant, signs that we are in a certain stage, why we fall victim to them, and finally how we can enhance the number one listening skill which is active listening. The points that I discussed in this paper will increase and maintain your sales performance. Although my examples were directed towards sales, these same listening skills can be helpful in any life situation. Active listening skills can improve your relationships with anyone. Like everything that is worth learning it takes practice to master the skills.

Another sign of intermediate passive listening is when you notice you personally get fixed on one idea. This sign shows-up when you are with a client or prospect and something they say is either confusing or intrigues your mind and you become so reflective or focused on it that the rest of the information they say, although important, is not totally being received by your conscious mind. In the intermediate passive listening phase you can remember some things from a conversation; however, if the information is left to your memory you will lose 80% of it within five days (Ramsey,1997). Information received in the intermediate passive phase goes directly into your short-term memory. If you want to increase your retention with the information received while in the intermediate passive phase I recommend that you quickly jot down bullet point notes and then fill in more detail when you hang-up the telephone or leave the meeting.

The third major reason people passively listen is their reputation. It is easy for a person to get caught up in how their impression is being received that they forget to listen. This is another common pitfall of an ineffective salesperson. The salesperson is so concerned with their image that they aren't listening to their customer.

Some topics in this essay:
Sales Professionals, Passive Listening, Ramsey1997 Information, Dr Sill, Pfizer Corporation, Sohi Ravipreet, passive listening, active listening, listening skills, intermediate passive, intermediate passive listening, Michigan University, listening phase, Dennis Kyle, passive listening phase, pay attention, sales performance, , Sales Performance, active listening skills, listening defined, dr sill, reason people, passive listening intermediate, listening intermediate passive,