Talking too much: It's a common malady for most people in business, especially professional salespeople. In fact, the stereotypical back-slapping, cigar-smoking, joke-telling, smooth-talking salesman has given serious salespeople a bad image. Real pros will tell you the secret to successful sales is asking questions and listening, with every ounce of concentration you can muster, to the answers.
Try using the 70/30 rule: When you interact with prospects and clients, they should be doing 70 percent of the talking, which means you're doing 70 percent of the listening. In fact, your 30 percent portion should consist largely of questions. Listening is crucial for effective sales - it's the only way you'll learn what your prospect or client REALLY needs. Follow these tips for effective listening:
- Prepare in advance: Focus on the prospect. Arrive at least two to five minutes early and write out three to five questions you want your prospect to answer, as well as an overall objective and desired outcome for the sales call. Then, at your meeting, give the prospect your complete attention.
- Take notes: Taking notes during the meeting shows your interest in the prospect's message, helps you stay in control of the call, and provides valuable data to review later or share with your sales team. Don't worry about neatness. It is much more important to maintain solid eye contact with your prospect than it is to have neat notes. You can always go back over them later and rewrite anything that was initially illegible.
- Screen out distractions: Imagine you and the prospect are alone in a tunnel and all you can hear is one another. Think only of the message. Don't worry about your next question; just listen. When the prospect has stopped talking, use the interim silence to think about and form your next question. Often the prospect will volunteer additional helpful information just to fill the silence - information you may never have learned if you had gone ahead and asked your next question.
- Listen for content: Listen to the words. Do not respond to your stereotype of, or past history with, the prospect. Stop judging the style of delivery. Watch for emotions.
- Pause before answering questions: Do not answer a prospect's question until you understand why the question was asked. Never assume you know the reason - this particular prospect may be that one exception, and you could really put your foot in your mouth! And, never answer an un-asked question - you could bring up an issue that didn't need to be addressed and clouds the real issues.
- Prove that you listened: After - and only after - you believe the prospect has said everything he or she has to say, paraphrase what you heard. This allows the prospect to confirm that you heard it correctly and completely, and allows him or her to clarify anything you missed. Then when you are ready to present your solution, you can be assured that it will address the prospect's issues perfectly.
Al Simon is president of Simon, Inc., an authorized licensee of the Sandler Sales Institute. He can be reached at (770) 281-9090
