When the prospect is listening, you are not selling
Published Wednesday September 3rd, 2008
During a sales meeting, the prospect should be talking and the salesperson listening.
This is especially true during initial sales meetings. Typically, however, the opposite occurs. The salesperson feels compelled to talk about as many features, benefits, and unique selling points of his product or service as time permits in an attempt to capture the prospect's interest. If the prospect merely wants a rundown on various aspects of your product or service, he can simply read your marketing brochure. Investing time to meet with you would not be necessary.
"Selling" is not about "telling." It's about helping the prospect relate your product or service to the satisfaction of his or her wants and needs. (And, helping the prospect discover needs of which he or she was previously unaware.) This is accomplished by asking thought-provoking questions and then listening…really listening.
You can educate (and stimulate interest) with a question more effectively than citing features and benefits. "Our software analyzes regional warehousing and distribution costs in relation to regional sales patterns and identifies areas for cost saving. In more than 72% of the studies performed in the last 12 months, we've discovered typical saving of 18-34%. Blah, blah, blah." Informative? Yes. Provocative? No. You might as well hand the prospect a brochure and conduct a read-along.
By asking a question, you can not only inform, but you can engage the prospect. For example: "If you were to analyze your warehousing and handling costs and compare them to your regional sales patterns to determine how much money you are wasting on excess capacity, what do you suppose you'd discover?" Informative and provocative. And, more importantly, it engages the prospect and stimulates a conversation about the usefulness of such an analysis. It gets the prospect talking.
When you get the prospect talking, shut your mouth; don't interrupt. You can open your ears or you can open your mouth, but you can't do both at the same time. Let the prospect finish, then ask questions or make comments. And, don't think about what you're going to say until the prospect has finished speaking. If you're thinking about what you are going to say, you are not listening! You can lose a sale by talking too much. But, you'll never lose a sale by listening too much.
Next time: Things won't change until you do. Until then, good selling!
©2008 Sandler Training Inc.
Russ Mallard is the president of Mallard & Associates Ltd., Moncton, NB and is an authorized licensee for Sandler Training, the global leader in innovative sales and management training. For a free paperback booklet of Why Salespeople Fail … and what you can do about it!, or to inquire about training in your area, contact Sandler Training at Rmallard@sandler.com or call us at 1-888-854-7611. www.mallard.sandler.com
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To truly understand how to sell to your customers, you have to understand their business. To truly understand their business, you have to listen to the people who work there day in and day out. The trick is asking the right questions... if you are not prepared and have not completed your homework on the business, the kind of questions you ask may very well find you walking out the door empty handed.
Preparation prior to the meeting is as equally important as the listening skills you possess during the meeting. Don't be afraid to tell them you might not have what they need, it helps build trust, and trust is a powerful tool in sales.