This rates in my book as one of the most stupid questions a salesperson could ever ask.
How’s the weather?
Hey, If you’re that interested in the weather, then why don’t you check it on www.weather.com? Don’t be so stupid as to ask your customer what the weather is like.
Asking a question about the weather is lame. It tells me you don’t have anything better to open up a conversation with, and as far as I’m concerned, when a salesperson asks me that question, I’m immediately turned off.
Now, I’ll admit there are times during very extreme weather periods when a question like that could be appropriate, but those situations are rare.
Open your conversation with something meaningful, like a question that is going to show you’re calling for a reason. This applies to both a customer and a prospect. Ask them a question regarding their business or something happening in their industry or community.
If the question is going to be non-business related, that’s fine, as long as it’s a non-business related topic that fits their interest.
If you’re speaking to a baseball fan, then you can certainly ask them a question or make a comment regarding baseball. But again, don’t ask them about the weather.
Where this really comes into play is with prospecting calls or anytime you’re calling someone who you don’t know well. My number one rule is respect the time of the person you’re calling just as you want others to respect your time.
If you’re wondering what other comments are on my list of “stupid statements to open a sales call,” here are a few more:
Did you have a good weekend?
Is this a good time to talk?
Hopefully I didn’t catch you at a bad time.
How is your day going?
I didn’t catch you while you’re on break did I?
You get the drift. I could list another 20 stupid comments or questions to open a sales call with, but you get the idea.
Engage the other person and respect their time. Don’t ask them stupid questions.
Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
