How to Listen Like a Homicide Detective

in Listening

One of the many awesome things about being in sales is that sales actually IS real life.

What we do on the phone and in person in prospecting, selling, and working with customers is the same thing we do when interacting with people in all areas of life.

That’s why I always say that everyone is in sales, regardless of what their paid profession is.

We all interact with others and the more effective we are with our communication skills, the more successful we become.

My entire career has been about finding, testing, and sharing the best methods and techniques. And those are by no means limited to the typical techniques taught in sales courses.

Here’s a questioning and listening philosophy and technique used by homicide detectives. (You likely won’t be using with on murder suspects!)

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Roy Luce April 27, 2017 at 10:42 am

In the mid-70s a sales trainer by the name of Lee Du Bois (?) offered a series of sales training videos, one of which was titled “The Closing Line”.
In this video he talks about asking closing questions (timing, content, etc.) and offers this advise:

“When you ask a closing question you must do 1 thing: SHUT UP!” Probably good advise regarding any question.

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Gianluigi Olivari October 8, 2017 at 6:47 am

Hi Art,
nice post!
During my sales training seminars in Italy I stress so much the importance of a careful, distractions-free and interruptions-free active listening.
Bad listening, almost always, leads lost sales.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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