The following is taken directly from an email I got today. Go to his website, get stuff like this free in your e-mail too! Buy some of Jim's stuff like I did. Do Both! But use it, and practice it. Then you can watch your life change.
The more things change, the more it seems they don't change.
Most salespeople just don't get it. Too many salespeople just talk
too much.
One of the fatal flaws of professional selling is too little listening
and too much talking.
According to John Asher, another sales trainer, 95% of all salespeople
talk too much and I think he's right.
Salespeople just love to talk. And why not - that's why you're hired.
The best salespeople listen more than they talk and the simple truth
is the less you say the smarter you'll sound.
Take a breath and and try using your ears more.
In fact, employ your ears before you engage your mouth. As soon as
you start listening more, you'll start learning more about your
customers. This is what selling is all about.
When you do this your sales performance will sky-rocket.
I have a confession to make. I didn't always do what I'm asking you
to do.
In fact, growing up in New York, I was everything but a good listener.
I remember my first sales job. I also remember being able to talk
so fast I could complete sentences for anyone I happened to be talking
to, including prospects and customers.
I could shoot from the lip with the best of them.
You could say, my mouth was the center of my universe. You could
also say I would routinely get mugged by my own mouth.
Talking too much and talking too fast isn't an easy habit to change.
But change you must if you want to succeed in sales.
There is just less tolerance for mediocrity today. Truth be known,
you can cut back on your talking as soon as you start asking better
questions. It's simple and it's easy.
Just don't try winging it. A good word is like a burning ember that
lingers on. Imagine stringing good words together to create powerful
questions. WOW!
Good questions are what great selling is all about.
I've written a book about questions, but most of you already have
that one. Maybe it's time to write a new book about the best questions
to ask prospects and customers.
You can help me write the book and see your name and questions included
in the book.
If you have a really good question that you'd like to share with other
professional salespeople send it to me via e-mail.
If I use your question in my new book, your name will appear in a list
of credits in the new book - and I will send you a complimentary copy
of the eBook version of book.
Please send only open-ended questions. These questions should have
between 5-12 words and cannot be answered with a one-word response.
Good open-ended questions can begin with the words how, what, describe,
and tell me about.
Just as a reminder, the title of this letter is What Buyers Hate About
Sellers. You now know that buyers don't like salespeople who talk too
much.
What Buyers Love About Sellers are really good questions that show
genuine
interest and concern for the buyer.
Nothing shows a buyer that you care more than a good question.
Don't forget to send me your best open-ended questions.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
What Buyers Hate About Sellers
Sunday, October 01, 2006
A busy month
A Full 30 days without any entries to this Blog. Life is good, and it is time for an update.
As me and my wife were talking recently, The Internet and Computers, (like all tools) can be used for good or evil. Okay, evil may be harsh, but in reality, it may go to that extreme. But, there are lots of people and organizations that use Instant messenger services to talk to someone in the next cube. Or they use e-mail as a substitute for a phone call. A good friend of mine, keeps his list of activities and his "to do list" all on a yellow legal pad and a clip board, just like he has been doing for the past 30 or 40 years.
A question we all need to ask ourselves is: Is the technology available for us to use as tools, a help or hindrance? This is a personal question; there is no one answer that fits all.
Which brings me to another theme we have had at our company, SIMPLIFY.
Lloyd Roach, a gentleman, about the same age as my previously mentioned friend, joined our company, after sitting on the board of directors, working behind the scenes to steer this ship and SIMPLIFY. Cut out all the unnecessary, and get back to what makes us money and makes our clients money.
As an analytical but practical person, I delight in theses strategies and focus, and yet sometimes find myself still overdoing the unnecessary. So it is time to unclutter our lives, select the BEST, over OKAY, and use the tools of technology to move forward and not get bogged down.
Here are a few practical items that may apply to you and your world:
1. I get several free subscriptions that I really do not need. Both Print and E-mail. Get your name off the "quote of the day" e-mail or anything that clutters your life like that.
2. Read the books and magazines you already have and then give them to others. I have more un-read books than books I have completed in my collection. The Business Magazines, I brought to work and have available for my staff to use for information or research on a client.
3. Forms. In working with our business manager, we are looking at ways to eliminate redundancy. Our previous General Manager was also a lawyer, so there was a lot of CYA stuff in contracts. We still go by the rule of no verbal agreements, but we can use an e-mail, back of a business card, or a hand written note on letterhead to do some stuff that was not possible under previous management.
4. Prune. This is a favorite of mine. Stop trying to fix the weak, and focus on the strengths. We eliminated 3 radio formats that were the weak sisters of the bunch and are now directing our efforts on the very best we have to offer, and it is working.
That’s all for now, time to get stuff done and enjoy time with my family. (By the way, for an update on what else has been going on this past month, visit my other blog.)
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