Rule fourteen in David Mattson’s book about the Sandler Rules to Selling really stuck out to me. Rule fourteen is: a prospect who is listening is no prospect at all. In his rule, Sandler suggests that the prospect should be talking for 70 percent of the time. This flips the script from the sales scenarios you see in movies or television. The typical sales pitch we think of involves the salesperson going on and on about all the features their product or service provides. In the real world, this tactic simply is not successful. The prospect does not want to hear all the details about the product, they can find those answers themselves.
Instead of talking the ears off of a prospect, the salesperson should take a different approach. The first step should be to ask questions and try to find a potential problem. Once this is accomplished, they should get the prospect to talk about it. Next is the most vital step in this approach: SHUT UP AND LISTEN. The salesperson should never interrupt the prospect. Mattson put it perfectly in his book: “You can open your ears or you can open your mouth, but you can’t do both at the same time.” Listening should be the priority of the salesperson. Once the prospect finishes their thought, they should ask them more questions to move the conversation along. As they do this, the salesperson should give them plenty of time to answer each question. This allows the conversation to stay in the control of the salesperson, while they are only talking for about 30 percent of the time.
To sum up Sandler Rule #14: Telling ain’t selling, asking is.
BoweryJE22
learning to shut up and listen is very important, whether in a sales meeting with a potential customer or with a stranger you meet in the street. while easier said than done, it allows you to take in the other person’s passions and feelings on certain matters that you would otherwise not know due to your yapping about yourself.
Great post, I like how you you discussed how talking is no the most effective way on getting a sale done. It is probably the worst thing a sales person can do. as a sales person you need to get to the pain of a customer, from here you can really get into deeper questions to help build confidence on why the person needs the product or service you are selling.