Rule #14: A Prospect who is Listening is no Prospect at all

In Mattson’s book, rule #14 is so important to understand and follow. A prospect who is listening is no prospect at all, and this essentially means that if the prospect is just listening to the salesperson talk, then they are not truly a prospect at all. They are clearly not invested in the sales process whatsoever. Professor Sweet mentioned in class that “Selling Ain’t Telling, Asking Is” and this is true because you are trying to get to the bottom of their pain and understand what your prospect needs. In this rule, you are trying to get the prospect to talk about a potential problem that is bothering them. Once you find the problem and they start talking, then you shut up and listen, and there is a 70/30 rule that we follow. Essentially that 70/30 rule is that the client talks for 70% of the time, and the seller talks for 30% of the time. As a salesperson, this is a big rule because you don’t want to come off as pushy and never stop talking, so we need to know when to shut up and let the prospect talk. Also, during this process, it isn’t just about finding their pain; it is about showing that you want to gain a relationship and get to know them on a better level. This rule involves the salesperson to really listen, and we need to listen in order to gain a better knowledge of your prospective buyer and what their intentions are. Overall, rule #14 is very important, and it was so helpful for me to learn in class, because some people just don’t know when to stop talking, so it causes problems when trying to understand a buyer’s pain. This rule has already helped me, even when talking to my friends, just being able to listen and help them with their pains has really helped me use this rule a lot.