Blather, blather, blather, bla bla bla. Sound familiar? It’s the sound of a sales person. That’s right, a sales person. As a sales person myself but more importantly, an observer of sales people, this is what I would like to say.
We are good at many things. Some of us possess excellent product knowledge, and others are great presenters. While we’re all good at one thing or another, the one thing we are really good at, the one thing we truly excel at, in fact are fantastic at, is talking.
In this skill, we are experts. We start by talking, continue with talking and then, talk some more. If someone appears to be listening, our talk glands swell with adrenalin, launching us into a verbal symphony of words. Words that are music to our ears and resplendent with rich and valuable content, or so we think.
Teaching a sales person to talk is easy, teaching them to communicate, not so easy.
What most sales professionals fail to consider is that talking is but one of the mechanisms involved in successful communication. There are many others, like eye contact, body language, and so on but the second most important ingredient after talking is being heard. Being listened to is not the same as being heard.
To be heard, there first needs to be someone who is prepared to hear you. Of course that starts with being listened to, but being heard goes beyond that and includes an audience that is willing to hear you.
Essentially, most sales people miss this crucial cue, the one where someone indicates a willingness to hear.
It’s not entirely the sales person who is at fault, because most sales professionals have been taught to lead with “talk”, to look for the “buying signal” or “close” moment. Usually, it’s a rant about a product or service feature, or perhaps an on-going diatribe about a resolution to an issue just voiced by the prospect. No matter, we just continue to talk.
Next time you want to talk, consider the following:
Have you been invited to talk?
- Is the listener engaged? If not, they may be listening but are probably not hearing you.
- Are you reading the signs? You know, are they fidgeting in their seat? Are their eyes wandering or worse, glazing over?
- Have they taken any steps to “promote” the discussion by asking questions or presenting feedback or challenges?
- Are you the one doing most of the talking? If so, you’re likely not being heard.
- Have you mastered the art of “shutting up”?
Finally, remember that less is more when it comes to sales people speaking. Choose the words and messages that you want to be heard carefully. Know when to shut up and listen, because when the client starts to talk, that’s when they start to hear you.