Get customers to talk themselves into buying

by Art Sobczak

While monitoring a sales rep’s conversation, I recalled an old Jerry Seinfeld routine.

His observation was that people have an innate compulsion to explain why they do what they do. For example, picture someone going into a convenience store asking for change. They feel compelled to say, “I’d like change for a dollar, please . . . it’s so I can make a phone call.”

Or, a person at the checkout stand buying a single jar of grape jelly who sheepishly confesses, “It’s for a special recipe. I realized at the last minute I didn’t have any.”

Perhaps you’ve witnessed this type of behavior. Or, maybe you’ve performed it. The reason Seinfeld’s routine came to mind while monitoring calls is that the sales conversation went something like this.

Prospect: “We’ve decided we’re going to go in a different direction.”

Sales rep: (after a pause) “Oh?”

Prospect: “Well, not an entirely different direction . . . you see, we just really need to pull in the reins a little and evaluate where we are before we decide how we’re going to allocate the budget for MRO products next year.”

Sales rep: “I see.” (pause)

Prospect: “Of course, that doesn’t mean you won’t be part of the budget. Actually, I think you would have a very good chance at being a key supplier, but it will take some time, and we’d have to discuss the details.”

The sales rep listened further as the prospect talked a full 180 degrees from “going in a different direction” to “becoming a key supplier.” And the sales rep uttered, oh, a whopping total of about five monosyllabic words to help the person do the about-face.

As I watched and listened to the sales rep engineer this turnabout by basically doing nothing, I smirked, recalling how some other loquacious reps would have nipped the prospect’s reversal in the bud with their own monologue about why “going in a different direction” wasn’t the best thing to do.

Listening. So simple, yet so difficult to execute.

A sales manager once told me, “My salespeople like to listen to themselves.”

An interesting phenomenon, though, is that people will tell you exactly what you need to do to help them buy . . . if you remain quiet long enough to let them.

The queen of cosmetics, Mary Kay Ash, says, “Listen long enough and the person will generally come up with an adequate solution.”

Listening tips
Here are some listening tips.

Think about your purpose for listening. After all, purpose is the motivation for doing anything. If your reason is strong, you’ll do it. If not, you won’t. Convince yourself that what the speaker has to say, and how you process and react to it, determines your income.

Before your calls, remind yourself who has the most important information to share on that contact. It’s not you.

PAUSE. Ask a question, then clam up. If you were face-to-face with them, there would be silence as they shifted their eyes upward to think about their answer. Don’t let silence intimidate you into answering your own question.

Pause again after their answer or statement. Let them speak, let them finish, and then let them continue. Given the opportunity, many people will keep on talking and further explain what they just said. It’s here where you might get some of your very best information. A very successful rep told me, “I always wait after I get the first answer. Then I hear the real one.”

Also, preparing for your call will make you a better listener. When you’re totally prepared for your call, you don’t need to think about what you’re going to say next while the other person is speaking, therefore missing what they’re saying.

What you have to say isn’t nearly as important as what your prospect or customer says. Let them talk more, and you’ll find them buying more.