---
title: "Salespeople: See, Listen, Play – 'Three Skills to Win'"
description: "Salespeople are often told to master 'three skills': seeing, listening, and playing. While these are common catchphrases, not every salesperson knows how to apply them effectively. Drawing on years of practical experience, the author focuses on the second skill – listening – and provides detailed guidance on whom to listen to, what to listen for, and how to listen, to help sales professionals gather valuable information and ultimately win."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-04-14"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/salespeople-see-listen-play-three-skills-to-win-70bbf08e/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/salespeople-see-listen-play-three-skills-to-win-70bbf08e.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/zie5z5FLDgU2y_pFl3cYMw"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%B8%9A%E5%8A%A1%E5%91%98-%E4%BC%9A%E7%9C%8B-%E4%BC%9A%E5%90%AC-%E4%BC%9A%E7%8E%A9-%E4%B8%89%E4%BC%9A%E6%89%8D%E4%BC%9A%E5%AC%B4-70bbf08e.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/salespeople-see-listen-play-three-skills-to-win-70bbf08e/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# Salespeople: See, Listen, Play – 'Three Skills to Win'

> Salespeople are often told to master 'three skills': seeing, listening, and playing. While these are common catchphrases, not every salesperson knows how to apply them effectively. Drawing on years of practical experience, the author focuses on the second skill – listening – and provides detailed guidance on whom to listen to, what to listen for, and how to listen, to help sales professionals gather valuable information and ultimately win.

Salespeople are often told to master 'three skills': seeing, listening, and playing. These have become catchphrases among salespeople, but not every salesperson knows exactly how to see, listen, and play. Based on years of practical experience, the author summarizes how to listen, what to listen for, and how to listen, hoping to be helpful to fellow sales professionals.

Listening is the second of the three skills and another direct way to gather information. Seeing is for information, and so is listening. What you see is surface information, while what you hear is hidden information. A salesperson must combine both types to obtain the most accurate information. Clearly, listening is equally important.

**Whom to listen to:**
- Listen to consumers (both existing and potential).
- Listen to sales staff (ours and competitors').
- Listen to distributors (all merchants in the distribution channel).

These three groups are the people we interact with directly and who are most familiar with our products. They usually like to say something about our products, and the information they provide is often the most useful. To get them to talk, salespeople need to encourage them to speak (how to encourage is not detailed here), letting them express their true thoughts.

**What to listen for:**

*From consumers:*
- Whether the product price is appropriate.
- Whether the packaging specifications are suitable.
- Whether the product is convenient to purchase.
- Whether product performance and quality are good.
- Satisfaction with after-sales service.
- Whether the product instructions are clear.
- Consumers' views on competing products.
- Whether they repurchase our products.
- Whether they recommend our products.
- Any suggestions or feedback.

*From sales staff:*
- Daily sales volume of our products.
- Whether our product display is effective.
- The reputation of our products among consumers.
- Whether they recommend our products first.
- Whether they are familiar with the products.
- Whether the pricing is competitive.
- What activities competitors are running.
- Daily sales volume of competitors.
- Whether they have participated in our events for sales staff.
- Whether they are confident in our products.
- Any suggestions or feedback on our work.

*From distributors:*
- Whether they have confidence in the manufacturer and products.
- Whether they identify with the company's philosophy.
- Whether they agree with the company's market expansion plans.
- Whether they are satisfied with the manufacturer's service.
- Whether they are satisfied with their profit margins.
- Whether they are satisfied with the product packaging.
- Whether they are satisfied with product quality.
- Whether they are satisfied with after-sales support.
- Their views on competing products.
- Any suggestions or feedback.

By listening to this information, we can obtain realistic data about our products, market, and services, and learn more about our competitors. We can determine whether our packaging is reasonable and how to improve it; whether our pricing is appropriate and how to adjust it; and whether our policies are sound and implemented throughout the marketing chain. This valuable information will undoubtedly help us sell better and increase sales.

**How to listen:**
- The best place to listen is at the point of sale.
- Find reasons to talk with sales staff repeatedly, guiding them to share what you need to hear; listen to how they recommend products to consumers, whether they are familiar with our products, and whether they recommend ours first.
- Talk to consumers who have purchased our products to learn why they chose us; talk to those who bought competitors' products to learn why they chose them.
- Visit distributors' places of business to listen.

Many salespeople prefer to listen to distributors over meals, thinking it combines hearing their thoughts with building rapport. However, this is a mistake because at such times, the distributor speaks with emotion – you hear either complaints or praise, not the truth. Visiting the distributor's business premises is better, as it helps them get into the right mindset. There, they speak factually, calmly, and objectively.

Of course, listening is not that simple. Besides the above, you need to learn to discern the authenticity and feasibility of what you hear. You must learn to speak skillfully, using your words to guide consumers, sales staff, and distributors to talk, then listen quietly while observing their expressions and body language. Come with questions, use your skills, and listen attentively – then you will hear valuable information and win.

**This platform will soon organize visits for interested distributor friends to learn about B2B platforms. If you'd like to join us, add the editor's WeChat and reply with the keyword: 学习 (study).**

****************-**************** END-

China's best learning platform for FMCG distributors
Dedicated to providing professional, practical, and actionable tutorials for enterprises and distributors
Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly

**The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry**

Reply with the red number below to get the corresponding content
Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base

| **001** Selected excellent articles | **002** Distributor market operations | **003** Terminal visit management | **004** Sales supervisor skills | **005** Sales improvement techniques | **006** Channel expansion | **007** Managing distributors | **008** Distributor development | **009** Distributor internal operations management | **010** Team management | **011** Efficient distribution techniques | **012** Sales manager's eighteen skills | **013** KA operation methods and strategies | **014** First lesson for new salespeople | **015** Internet, brands |

[Long press QR code to follow]


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671