Sales Tactics - Talking vs Listening
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Speed Profit Secrets on April 18, 2009 , trackbackIf you’re in sales, is it better to be a talker or a listener?
Since the beginning of the sales training industry, there has been the 2 camps promoting opposing views on this. We all know the usually more aggressive “talker” camp. They are the ones that tell you to “take control of the situation”, “plow your way through”, “never leave without a check in hand”… to them, ABC means “Always Be Closing”…
Who can forget Alec Baldwin’s character Blake in the classic salesman movie, Glengarry Glenn Ross (if you don’t know the show… there’s no hope for you, go hug a pillow ;)). Alec’s character and Al Pacino’s Ricky Roma, are great representatives of the ultimate “talker” salesperson. They are ruthless and do whatever it takes to get the sale. Every wonder why salespeople get such bad rep?
On the other camp, the “listener” want you to “be a good listener”, “listen actively”, “don’t push, but pull”… they prefer the softer, gentler approach. I even heard a known trainers said “If they didn’t sign, just follow up. They will come back to you. I don’t know what world he was living in, but from personal experience and statistics in the real world, I know that when prospects leave without signing on the dotted line, chances of you closing the deal dropped significantly.
So who is right, who is wrong? Which method is the best?
Well, I think people need to take a step back to see that the most important thing… the result, is to close the sale. There are great sales principles from both camps. Salespeople should see them as tactics and tools in their toolbox and be flexible in using them appropriately to get the sale. They should not rely on one tool or technique alone.
Here’s my personal take:
First of all, before you meet any prospect, you must already have some ideas on what they are looking for, their wants, their needs, etc. You need to do some research on your general target market and understand their reasons to buy. You’d be surprised at how similar most of their basic reasons are… to feel good, to get attention, to make others happy, to avoid feeling left out, etc.
Second, when you meet with a prospect, it is important to start talking and get their attention. If you don’t have their attention, you won’t get to move to the next round. Then you have to ask about what they are looking for. Just a couple of sentences are usually enough. Obviously you can do it subtly. This is just so you know that you’re on the right track. There is nothing worse than starting your presentation with all the bells and whistles only to find out at the end that you missed what they wanted from the beginning.
But once you know that you’re on the right track, then it’s time for you to take more control of the conversation and be the one that is talking (presenting) persuasively. Most prospects want to be led. They are conditioned to be led. So you need to make them feel comfortable by giving them a sense of familiarity… of being led.
You would be surprised at the number of sales that failed because the salesperson just focused on asking questions and listening. Once you have their attention and establish some trust, most prospects will look to you as their guide. If you don’t do that, you will lose their attention and trust fast. They will start wondering whether you know what you are doing and begin to reconsider their position.
If you led them well enough, they will start to ask questions. You listen. This is the time they raise concerns, objections, etc. Obviously you then resolve their objections and go for the close. I’m shocked at how many salespeople just leave things hanging after a great presentation. They had this idea that if their presentation is great enough, people will buy.
It’s more likely that they are cowards… or just not trained right. One of the companies I was helping was doing a lot of trade shows. I noticed that their new salespeople are pretty aggressive in pitching… but they didn’t close. After each pitch, they just left it hanging, and prospects just smiled, pretended to be distracted, looked away and walked off. And they let them! It was painful to watch.
So I worked with their salespeople before their next trade show. I pointed out some of their weaknesses and they confessed that they didn’t know what to say beyond the pitch. I gave them a few simple but highly effective closing tactics (Side note: you don’t want to many tactics in a trade show situation, rely on a few proven ones. It’s about the numbers. Pace and reliability is the game). I got them to rehearse it a few times. At the next trade show, which drew slightly lesser overall crowd, the same sales team closed double the amount from the previous one.
Bottom line, there is the right time to listen and the right time to talk. Be flexible enough to use those tactics to get the sale. As Donald Trump said “It’s not about book smart or street smart, it’s just about being smart.” It’s about getting the results. Everything else are just tools.
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