I've noticed something interesting recently and that is, Americans love to talk. They love to listen to other people talk too (like the television or radio). They get their books on tape. They have the radio tuned to talk shows. . . we're a people uncomfortable with the sound of silence. This is especially true in conversations. There's an awkwardness that most people experience when there's a lull or a bit of space in the conversation and they struggle to fill that void. This can be particularly damaging in sales especially when we've almost got our product or service sold, and then muck it up with too much talk.
We chatter. We fill in the spaces with inane nothingness. I know that my students and those of you in sales are familiar with the cliche persona of the classic sales person who looks around his or her prospect's office and takes note of the photos on the wall or art or whatever, and begins to talk about the husband or wife, how are the kids, what's going on in the golf game, et cetera, and basically chit chats their prospect into non-compliance. The sale was in the bag, but not signed off on, and the odds are dwindling the more they talk.
I personally had a tremendous breakthrough when I realized I needed to keep my mouth shut more often. For someone who likes to talk, that's a tall order. As a young man, i would constantly derail myself over and over in sales situations, by chit chatting them out of the contract. What's worse, when I noticed it derailing, I would talk even more to try to get it back on track. Did it work? No.
If a prospect or client was looking for a way out, I would give it to them eventually if I chattered on too long. I kept wondering why they didn't want to be more like my friend, why they didn't want to talk about more personal, day-to-day stuff. I can tell you the reason this is the case is because they weren't getting the answer to a burning question within them.
I realize I have been blessed with the gift of gab. The shift in my thinking came when I realized I had to fashion what I was saying to focus intently on the prospect and their needs and not my own agenda.
So what is the burning question? The question is, "What can you do for me, Kenrick?" Our prospects are ultimately wanting to know, "What's in this for me? What is it that you're going to do to help me?" The only way to find the answers to these questions is to elicit their criteria and once you've elicited their criteria, then we have to get to the meaning.
Criteria and its meaning have got to be the foremost thing in your mind when making a sale, no ifs, ands or buts. Remember this, and you won't be derailed.
About the Author:
Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of wealthy clients using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.
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