Just before Christmas I was waiting for a business associate at my local coffee shop and overheard a sales person talking on the phone to a potential customer: “Good morning MrProspect its Bill Blogs here from the Big Boring Company and before I ask you a couple of questions I’d like to share some information on who we are and what we do……blah, blah, blah”.
Bill talked for two or three minutes without drawing a breath: to me, it seemed longer – I wondered what the person on the other end of the phone was going through.
When Bill stopped chattering and finally asked the prospect: “So can you tell me a little about your business” the call suddenly ended. Surprise, surprise!!
There’s no doubt that Bill was truly enthusiastic, he certainly knew his company and its products and it seemed to me that he was truly passionate. He believed in what it was he was selling, but the problem was that his passion overtook any sense of how to sell.
Recognise this conversation? It’s real and it happens every day of the week.
The prospect doesn’t care
I’m sorry to offend anyone, but let me tell you that Mr Prospect doesn’t care about you or your company; he also doesn’t want to be educated.
All he really cares about is what’s in it for him (and his company). And that’s why so many appointment setting telephone calls don’t result in appointments and why so many potentially great meetings don’t result in a sale. Most are simply a one sided dialogue.
What’s the solution?
Maybe the solution is hidden in what former US president Theodore Roosevelt said: “No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”.
So stop talking about yourself and your company and let the prospect talk - about themselves, their company, their product, and their concerns.
The best way to do this is to simply have a conversation. Ask some smart questions and see what reply you get. There’s no doubt that what you ask and how you frame it has a strong influence on prospects.
So how many questions do you ask when you make phone calls or during presentations? How much time is the customer talking? I suggest they should be talking 70% of the time (which means you talk only 30% of the time).
By asking powerful, thought provoking questions you’ll get your potential customers (or even your current customers) to perceive you in a completely different way.
Firstly they’ll see you as different from the “others” and secondly different enough to give you their time and possibly some key information (maybe even some business).
Some key questions
Here are a couple of questions that might work for you: “Mr Prospect if you could have things the way you wanted them to be, what would you do?” or “Ms Prospect how would you deal with losing a couple of your best clients?” or “Mr Prospect can you describe your perfect business relationship with a supplie
Remember my story about Bill and resist the temptation to talk about you. Show that you really care by simply asking great questions then listening.
Stephen Pead specialises in providing training and coaching for salespeople and sales managers. Visit: www.yoursalessolutions.com.au
