I didn’t want a speech.
I only wanted to buy.
I was motivated to buy, but then why couldn’t I buy?
It’s simple: The person I was talking to on the phone was determined to read through his entire script.
We’ve all been there as a customer and yet I have a feeling we have also been there as a salesperson. No finger pointing. Instead, I’ll point to myself and admit I’ve done it.
There have undoubtedly been more than a few occasions where I’ve talked too much and, as a result, sabotaged or delayed closing a sale.
Think about this: Do you want to buy from somebody who won’t shut up? No! Then why do salespeople talk too much?
I think it comes down to one thing: Insecurity.
Salespeople who talk too much are simply insecure and the way they deal with being insecure is by never giving up control. This means one thing. They do all the talking…and talking…and still more talking.
For your next sales call, try a few things.
First, measure the amount of time you’re talking versus the amount of time the customer is talking.
Second, be conscious of the number of times you interrupt the customer. Surprisingly, I’ve found salespeople cutting off customers far more than we realize. We do it out of a fear the customer is going to get control of the conversation.
Skip the sales speech.
In fact, even skip the script. Make the sales call a conversation.
If it sounds creepy, maybe it’s your confidence or lack of confidence. As I look back on some of my past sales calls that came across more as a sales speech, it was my lack of confidence.
The correlation is scary. The lower the level of confidence, the higher the likelihood the sales call will be a sales speech.
Copyright 2014, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
