Active Listening and Summarising
Play back what the buyer said in your own words so they confirm you understood, and correct you if not.
So the real issue is the manual reporting, and if that were automated your team gets a day back each week. Have I got that right?
Active listening is showing you have understood by feeding it back, not just staying quiet. The strongest form in selling is the summary: you condense what the buyer told you into a couple of sentences and check it. “So the real issue is the manual reporting, and if that were automated your team gets a day back each week. Have I got that right?” The concept traces to psychologist Carl Rogers, whose client-centred therapy in the 1950s built on reflecting the speaker back to themselves.
To use it, listen for their actual words and concerns, then play them back accurately, including the emotion. A good summary earns a “yes, exactly”, which both confirms your understanding and gets the buyer agreeing with you.
It works everywhere, and especially before you pitch or close, since it proves you were listening rather than waiting to talk. The mistake is summarising your agenda instead of theirs, which they will notice and quietly resent.