Chapter 13

The More Important Side of the Question

Listening

It’s an amusing contradiction: Good salespeople are typically viewed as smooth talkers who can woo their audience with their words. Actually, the best salespeople are those who listen more than they talk and know when to shut up.

Everyone knows how to listen. We’ve done it all of our lives. Why, then, do so few people do it well? As a sales manager once told me: “My salespeople like to listen—to themselves talk.”

In this brief chapter, I’ll reemphasize the obvious: You need to listen to prospects in order to be most effective. I’ll also share a few techniques to help you become even better at it.

Get More and Better Information by Simply Letting Them Talk

I approached the checkout counter at my local Walgreens. In my hands, I had a box of disposable latex gloves and a funnel. (I know. I realized the same thing when I got to the counter. Looked a bit weird.)

The clerk was an 18-year-oldish kid with multicolored semi-Mohawk hair, sporting numerous tattoos and lots of metal adorning his face. His head was down, tapping feverishly on his Smartphone with both thumbs. After I set my items down, he caught a glimpse of them. He tilted toward me a bit, so I could see one eye, with a pierced eyebrow slightly raised.

“They’re for cooking,” I was compelled to blurt out.

His expression was frozen.

“I’m catering the end-of-season banquet for the high school softball team. Eighty people.”

He stared blankly.

“I have a barbeque cooking team. Our competitions are done for the year, so we sometimes do something like this just to stay in practice.”

His eyes were glassy, like fish in the ice counter at the market.

“Oh, the gloves. Yeah, those. We use the gloves when preparing the meat and when we’re serving. And the funnel, well, we make our own sauce, and we use the funnel to pour it into bottles.”

His expression changed slightly to one that in any language says, “Riiiiiiiiiight. Whatever.”

After getting my change and walking out the door, I realized that I just volunteered lots of information, and this kid said . . . almost nothing. He executed it to perfection. Not that he cared about the information, though. Reminds me of an old Jerry Seinfeld comedy routine where he asked in that Seinfeld tone, “So why do people feel compelled to explain why they do what they do?”

I even noticed it yesterday when a guy in front of me at the convenience store said to the clerk, “I’d like change for a dollar, please.” (pause) “It’s for the newspaper machine outside.”

Your prospects and customers will also continue talking—if you let them. Practice this. Force yourself if you need to.

It’s a simple rule: Speak less, sell more. If you allow them, people will go to great lengths to explain why they think, feel, and act the way they do. And that information will help you help them buy. Let’s look at a simple technique to do that.

Your Most Powerful Listening Tool: The Pause

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly-timed pause.

—Mark Twain

Perhaps you already do it well. Most people don’t. Right now, just be silent for two seconds.

There, you did it. That’s all I’m asking.

Pause . . . more on your Smart Calls and in all of your conversations. Make an effort to pause at two points in the communications process on the phone and off:

Not just a brief pause, but a two- to three-second pause. Here are some of the benefits of this technique:

He had occasional flashes of silence that made his conversation perfectly delightful.

—Sydney Smith

• You won’t feel compelled to continue talking after asking the question if you force yourself to pause. People don’t always immediately answer, and pausing gives them the opportunity to think a bit.
• The number and length of responses will increase. People feel more comfortable when you give them time to frame their answers, which will probably be more comprehensive.
• The amount of unsolicited information will increase. By not jumping in immediately after they’ve answered, they’re given a little time to contemplate what they’ve just said, which may prompt additional comments.
• You’ll have more time to understand what they’ve said. Since you know you’re going to pause, you can spend all of your listening time focused on the message, not on what you will say next.
• You’ll have more time to formulate your next question or statement—which will be more meaningful since you’ll possess more relevant information.

Oh, I know this can be difficult for people who get edgy when there’s silence on a call. Here’s how to get over that and resist the urge to jump in or keep talking: Just picture the scenario when you’re with people in person, keeping in mind what they’re doing during the silent times—thinking, stroking their chin, eyes gazing upward, pondering your offer. They are doing the same on the phone. Practice this on the phone and in all areas of your life. You’ll find you get more information than you ever have.

Listen for Their Key Terminology

On my own past four sales calls with prospects who contacted me looking for training, I listened very carefully and looked for their key words. I heard:

Of course, I took notes and wrote down exactly what they said, and after hearing each one, I simply replied with, “Tell me more about that.” All of them continued, pouring out their pains and problems in response. It’s a lot easier when people sell themselves. We often just need to get out of the way. (You should also use their exact terminology later when you make your recommendation, since they will not disagree with what they said.)

How to Make Eye Contact by Phone

I was recently having dinner at a nice Italian restaurant while on a speaking engagement in Chicago. My waiter was outstanding: very attentive, but not hovering. It seemed as though he always magically appeared at the right moment. However, one thing about him seemed a bit unusual: He didn’t make eye contact when he spoke. Every time he talked, he would look down at his shoes. It definitely affected my overall perception of him and even made me a bit uncomfortable.

This got me thinking about eye contact by phone.

Of course, we can’t see each other by phone, but we can feel the vibes—the same vibes created by eye contact or lack thereof. Let’s look at some ways to make that verbal and vocal eye contact by phone.

Verbal Nods

When we talk to someone in person, we use facial expressions and body language (like nods of the head) in addition to eye contact to indicate that we’re interested in the conversation. But what do you do by phone? Be sure that you’re sprinkling in and mixing up your use of such words and phrases as:

Encouragement Statements

Similar to the verbal nods, these further encourage the speaker to continue talking:

Listen When They Lower Their Voice

Pssst—want to know a secret? Sure you do; everyone does. How about when someone whispers some information in your ear? You pay close attention. Likewise, be particularly aware of what prospects and customers say when they lower their voice or whisper so as to not be heard by others in their area. This is typically sensitive and important information.

What Is Your Listening to Talking Ratio?

In his book How to Get People to Do Things, Robert Conklin shares results from a six-month-long study of salespeople. He found that the lowest 10 percent of a sales force talked an average of 30 minutes per presentation. And how long do you think the top 10 percent talked? Twelve minutes.

It Would Be Tougher to Listen Your Way out of a Sale

A sales rep for a cooking magazine I subscribed to called and said, “The reason I’m calling is that your subscription runs out this month, and I was calling to see if you wanted to keep that going . . . orrrrrrrrr what you wanted to do . . .” (nervous pause) “orrrrrrr if you just wanted to let it run out?”

Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much.

—Robert Greenleaf

Even though I had not given any thought to my plans regarding the subscription, his hanging orrr s and invitation for a no finalized my decision. He made it so easy to agree, “Yeah, just go ahead and let it run out.”

On the other hand, the law of inertia was in his favor if he had chosen to stop talking and avoided the orrr and invitation after making his positive suggestion.

There are several elementary points here that carry so much impact—and they’re violated regularly.

• Don’t talk yourself out of a sale.
• Shut up.
• Don’t make negative recommendations.
• Make positive recommendations and then pause, regardless of how awkward the silence might feel.

Here’s another example. After getting the question “What is your best price?” I heard a sales rep say, “Well, it’s $799.”

No reaction from the prospect.

“. . . but we could probably give you a $150 new customer discount.”

No reaction from the prospect.

“And I probably can get another $80 knocked off.”

“Okay, that sounds good,” said the prospect—who probably would have bought at full price had the rep simply stated the price and shut up.

Smart Calling Action Step

What else will you commit to do as a result of this chapter?