If you’re telling, you ain’t selling. A vital skill for a salesperson to master is the art of being quiet and listening. While it may seem easy, it can be our natural tendency to switch into “sales pitch” mode when we should be listening to our prospect’s needs.
Learning to shut up
A good rule of thumb to follow in a sales conversation is the 70/30 Rule. Your prospect should be doing 70% of the talking, and during that time you should be listening to your prospect. Your job as a salesperson is not to be the hero of your client but to come alongside them and help them as a consultant. The only way you can learn whether your product or service would be a good fit for your prospect is if you shut up and listen. Let your prospect do most of the talking and use your questions to guide the conversation.
Asking the right questions
Choosing the right questions to ask can make or break your ability to listen. Closed-ended, yes/no questions, for example, may be necessary at times but generally do not facilitate open discussion. Ask your prospect open-ended questions that encourage them to go into more detail about why they feel a certain way about their problem or current solution.
Asking questions like “why is that” or “what do you mean by that” can help you dig into the root cause of your prospect’s pain more. Additionally, leading phrases such as “tell me more…” or “because…” can help guide your prospect into giving more information. The questions you ask your prospect should be aimed at helping them see their pain from new angles and the potential for your solution.
Shutting up can be difficult when you’re in a sales conversation. However, approaching sales with a “telling” rather than a “listening” perspective can ruin your sales opportunity. Practice asking good questions and shutting up–let your prospect do the talking.
testacr22
David, I agree with what you have to say here. Shutting up and listening is a skill many people seem to lack in the world today however, it is very important in sales. I like how you key in on the importance of asking the right questions as I believe this is truly the key to sales as you want the client to do the majority of the talking but at the same time you still want to point them in the right direction with your question.