When I have interviewed salespeople, I was not looking for how well someone could talk, I looked to see how well they listened.
Once I spoke for 5 minutes straight with some very specific facts about my radio stations and the listeners and blah, blah, blah.
When 5 minutes were up I stopped and asked the candidate to write down 5 things I said.
If they could name 4, then there was hope. Some folks could not even come up with 2. Why? They were too busy thinking about what they were going to say instead of listening.
Today I had a meeting with a potential client and whenever he said something I wanted more information about, I wrote it down. Then as the conversation progressed, he basically told me what he wanted to do and how to help him buy.
If I was trying to pitch him instead of listen to him, we would have been out of there in 5 minutes, instead of the 45 minutes.
Here's an article that talks more about this subject:
Daily Sales Tip: Do You Talk Too Much?
To stimulate interest and to increase the odds of earning the business of a new client, many sales professionals spend too much of their time attempting to educate their clients about their product, service, and industry. In many cases, this is the same strategy that compromises their opportunity to create a relationship with that client.
Consider for a moment that providing too much knowledge and information is one of the main reasons a client will not purchase from you. Many salespeople find it difficult to determine when enough information is actually enough. Once the client hears something they aren't interested in, or if they feel you are providing information that simply doesn't apply to them, their interest is lost and they stop listening.
A sales call is not the place to demonstrate your vast amount of knowledge about your industry. This technique results in no order, canceled order or "I'll think it over." The truth is, if you are talking more than 20 30% of the time during an appointment with a potential customer, then you are talking far too much!
Instead, asking the right questions will determine the specific reason you are meeting with a potential customer and what their specific needs are so you can move that person from prospect to the level of customer.
Source: Sales consultant/trainer Keith Rosen (profitbuilders.com)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment