Sometimes we lose out on promising deals because our prospects are giving us indications that all is not well but we're failing to listen to what the prospect isn't saying. Oscar Trimboli is a deep listening expert who is on a quest to create 100 million deep listeners in the world, and he starts by helping us understand what we should be listening for when we interact with our prospects. Taught to speak We all learned to speak, to do math, and to study literature, but none of us can remember our listening teacher. As sales reps, we spend a minimum of 55 percent of our day listening, but only about 2 percent of us have been taught how to listen. [Tweet "The productivity hack for the sales rep of the 21st century is learning how to listen. #ListenToLearn"] Remember these two bits of statistics as you listen to the information in today's podcast. The 125/400 rule. I can speak 125 words per minute, but you can listen at 400 words per minute. You're programmed to be distracted and filling in 300 words. You're contemplating what to have for dinner or what to do over the weekend when you realize you have to get back into the conversations. The 125/900 rule. Your prospect can speak at 125 words per minute but you can think at 900 words per minute. The likelihood that the first thing your prospect says is actually the thing he means is about 1 in 9 or 11 percent. If you had 11 percent chance of a successful surgery, you probably wouldn't proceed without a second opinion. Most likely, your prospect is well-rehearsed and is speaking like a well-oiled machine. The most powerful thing we can do is explore the other 800 words per minute that are stuck in their heads. Unblocking pipeline When we grab on to those unspoken words, we can unblock pipeline and begin to understand our prospects. We must be mindful to ask our prospects what they are thinking and to listen for the things the prospects aren't saying. Oscar spends his days teaching people to be obsessed about the cost of not listening. We often don't do this because we assume our competition is those people we normally compete against. Many of us are listening for code words that a prospect might say that would link to a product or benefit. The really skillful sales reps focus on the customer's customer's problem. Instead of thinking about the person in front of you, think about the customer that this person must go speak to. The pipeline becomes shorter and more qualified, and you avoid unexpected surprises. Change the question We should consider the power of asking the question, "How does a business case like this get approved in your organization?" We're good at asking who approves deals without asking how they get approved. Once we ask how it gets approved we will understand who else we're being compared against. Many large organizations have a project management office that filters the funding for all new projects. If you don't know when that group meets or who participates or what other projects you're being evaluated against, you may find your deal slipping away. Understand the 125/900 rule. Help the prospect sell the business case rather than what you're actually selling. Help your prospect orient on the customer rather than on your offering. If you do these things, your pipeline will look very different. Help your team Build some muscle around listening for what isn't said. Find the organization's website and determine what matters to them. Use the words the company uses in your selling process. Don't use your language rather than their language. If the CFO can't read and understand the first page of your proposal, you've failed. Help your reps become fixated on their customers' customers' problems. It's the difference between good and great. Teach in a way that can't be misunderstood and figure out how your clients make money. Listen in color Many of us listen in black and white. Oscar is trying to teach the world to listen in color. How do we notice the energy of the p