{"id":3007,"date":"2017-03-11T04:04:53","date_gmt":"2017-03-11T04:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/?p=3007"},"modified":"2017-03-11T04:04:53","modified_gmt":"2017-03-11T04:04:53","slug":"when-to-stay-quiet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/when-to-stay-quiet\/","title":{"rendered":"When To Stay Quiet"},"content":{"rendered":"

The core concept I struggle with most is #5: never answer an unasked question. I\u2019m an open book, who tries to be as forthcoming as possible \u2013 if there\u2019s something that could go wrong, or that hasn\u2019t been mentioned yet, or there\u2019s even a fantastic benefit that no one has brought up – I want to throw everything on the table so that it\u2019s as transparent as possible. While that\u2019s a good mentality to have for life in general, sales isn\u2019t quite the same. That being said, I struggled with whether leaving an unasked question unanswered was a form of lying or not. What the client doesn\u2019t know won\u2019t hurt them, right? Or is it dishonesty that feeds the stereotype of the sleazy salesman? I\u2019ll look at this through the 3 multiple choice answers from Mattson\u2019s book.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Answering an unasked question will deflect attention and interest away from the central issues of the presentation<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Getting bogged down by details can kill a sale, so it is wise to keep your mouth shut and pay attention to what the client is<\/em> interested in, not what you think<\/em> they should be interested in. Details are great \u2013 for later, when the core elements of the product are understood by the client and the client wants to know more in-depth stuff about the product. The core elements are what matter, anyway \u2013 don\u2019t accidentally kill a sale by derailing the presentation and talking about minutiae, because the main parts of your product should be the reason your client wants to buy.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Answering an unasked question will confuse the prospect and give him a reason to postpone making a buying decision<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Have you ever been at an amusement park but you weren\u2019t having fun because it was too overstimulating? That\u2019s what answering an unasked question can do for a sale. The product is fantastic, but your prospect is so confused and their head is swimming in so many details they just need it to stop \u2013 so they back out of a potential deal so they can clear their head. Clarity and pointedness matter in a sale, or you can drive a prospect away because there\u2019s so much going on.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Answering an unasked question could establish reasons for the prospect not to buy from you<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Now this one, I think, is where dishonesty can rear its head. If your presentation is providing big reasons for the prospect to back out of a deal, or there are things that you aren\u2019t mentioning that the prospect would be angry about later, then it\u2019s probably best for the prospect and your future relationship with them that you let them get out of the sale. Don\u2019t rope someone into a sale when you know there\u2019s big reasons they wouldn\u2019t want it \u2013 that\u2019s definitely dishonesty, and can definitely be done by staying too quiet. If you know that your prospect is already uncomfortable, neglecting to mention important things can damage future potential sales with them.<\/p>\n

        2 out of 3 is a win for honesty. Derailing a presentation or confusing the client are important and compelling reasons to stay quiet, and they aren\u2019t dishonest reasons to stay quiet either. Always think with your client or prospect in mind, and whether your silence or details will help them make the best decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        The core concept I struggle with most is #5: never answer an unasked question. I\u2019m an open book, who tries to be as forthcoming as possible \u2013 if there\u2019s something that could go wrong, or that hasn\u2019t been mentioned yet, or there\u2019s even a fantastic benefit that no one has brought up – I want […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,54],"tags":[31,25,38,78],"class_list":["post-3007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sales-tips","category-the-sander-rules","tag-benefits-over-features","tag-listening","tag-marketing","tag-sales-conversation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3008,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3007\/revisions\/3008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/startupsales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}