One of the best TV and film actresses of Pakistan is Saba Qamar. But here we are talking about another kind of SABA. I first came across with this SABA while doing my sales and business communication classes.

Dale Carnegie used to say that success, prosperity and fame gravitates to the one who communicates well. Our holy Quran also says that God taught us the knowledge of communication (عَلَّمَهُ الْبَیَانَ ) which according to the scholars is the top most quality which human beings have been endowed with. It separates mankind from every other kind.

Most people (including a very large percentage of salesmen) think that communication is all about speaking and articulating. It is not quite so. Communication espouses both speaking and listening. It also encompasses observing the body language. In fact, God gave us two ears to listen while one mouth to speak.

Most salesmen do the other way round. They think that to be successful they must be a good speaker, a glib talker. This is where SABA comes into the picture. A boy was giving a presentation to a class of would-be-MBAs. He said that most salesmen believe in S (Sermonizing), A (Asserting), B (Bombarding) and A (Arguing) with the customers whereas sales actually is another kind of SABA:

S = Summarizing what the customer has said
A = Anticipating what he is going to say next
B = Reading between the lines
A = Assisting and advising

The customers don’t want to buy from the first kind of SABA who like a nagging wife sermonizes, asserts, bombards and bulldozes and argues and ultimately annoys. Most already have this kind back home (😊😊). They love and like the other type. So, if you want to be successful as a salesperson hone your listening skills; make friendship with the other SABA.

People of wisdom say that human mind works five time as fast and as efficiently while you listen as compared to whilst you speak. So let the customers do more of the talking so that you are able to understand their requirement very well, with a mind which is working five time as fast and as well as theirs. During this time, genuinely try to find a perfect fit for customers’ problems. You will keep winning.

Last but not the least while you are communicating with a customer, it is better to lose an argument than lose the customer.