Dominate the listening!

Most of us have heard the saying that “Telling ain’t Selling”. It means that when you are talking as a salesperson, the customers mind is free to wander. Unless you have a very compelling message and their undivided attention, your powers of influence are significantly reduced.

Now consider what happens when you ask your customer a question. They receive the question; take a moment to process the query; formulate a response; before delivering it to you in verbal and non verbal form. Their brain is engaged and you have them thinking. This is a far more powerful form of persuasion than simply having them listen.

But don’t we have to tell our customers about our solution and what action they should take? Yes that’s true but it is all about balance.

Think about your standard sales discussion with your customers and consider what is your balance between:

Asking
Listening
Telling

Would your telling percentage be greater than 50%?
Greater than 60%?
Greater than 75%?

My suggestion is, if you ask better quality questions and use your two ears more than your one mouth, you would not need to do so much telling. The suggested balance is therefore two thirds Asking/Listening and only one third telling. In this way you will be dominating the listening and far more persuasive in getting customers to buy from you.

Try it today!

Avoid soft language

I spend a lot of time around sales people and it never ceases to amaze me how the use of soft language delivers sub par results in selling and negotiating.

By soft language I am alluding to phrases such as:

“I was hoping we could get around $500 per unit? Maybe?” – don’t make it a question, make it a statement: “The price per unit is $529 per unit.” It is stronger, more authoritative and less likely to be challenged.

“Our services are quite good, really they are.” As a buyer I don’t want something that is quite good, I want something that is outstanding, perfect for my needs, trusted by many or the most popular. Saying something is quite good introduces risk and uncertainty. Lose the word.

“Obviously, you are needing to upgrade your product because ….” If it so obvious, why do you need to mention it?’ It is more persuasive to ask a question and have the customer state what they really need.

Same thing with “Actually”, “Honestly”, “Frankly”, “Absolutely” – these are generally unnecessary words that introduce doubt from the customer that you are being forthright in your communication.

If you want to be taken more seriously when selling and negotiating, avoid the use of soft language.