I have said this before in past posts, to a sales rep our mouth is one of our biggest assets and biggest liabilities. Every semi-successful sales rep I have ever known has been able to talk. The really successful sales reps that I have known have been able to listen even better.
This brings up 2 great questions;
1) How much should we listen?
2) How much should we talk?
I went to a store looking for a specific product today and when I walked in a sales rep met me at the door with a big smile and firm handshake. I really thought this was going to be a great buying experience, IT WASN’T.
After the sales rep asked me all the right questions about what I was looking for and what I was going to use it for he walked me to the product and gave me a great demo. After a few minutes I told him that it was prefect and exactly what I was looking for and I would take it. Still thinking that this was going to be an excellent buying experience, the rep walked me over to the sales counter and started writing up the paperwork and taking my payment. So far everything still looked good. He then told me that my product would be ready in about 10 minutes to which I said no problem.
Now is when things started going downhill quickly. The sales rep, thinking he needed to keep my full attention started some “small talk” with me. He asked what I did for a living, about my family, what each one did for a living, typical chit chat. This took about 3 of the 10 minutes he told me it would take, so not wanting any idle time he started talking, and talking, and talking, and talking… are you starting to see the picture?
I found out a lot more about him and his entire family, extended family, friends he considered family, friends he didn’t consider family, people he knew, people he didn’t know, and people he wished he knew. He told me stories about some personal things going on in his family, and things that he was personally going through.
Needless to say the 10 minutes passed along with about 25 other minutes. The entire time I doubt I said more than 10 words (which is VERY unlike me) but I was amazed. 45 minutes before this I had never seen this guy before and was now wishing I had never seen him at all!
I was thinking that I was glad I didn’t do what I would normally have done and started adding to the conversation. If I had done that I would more than likely not be typing this right now, I would still be at the store talking with my new best friend.
As usual, this got me thinking about how many times I have been with reps that engage in this kind of meaningless conversation with customers and prospects. I thought about how many selling hours are wasted in mindless chatter.
Now don’t misunderstand me, I know that you need to talk and make conversation to learn about the customer and their needs, like I said this rep did just that and did it very well. I also understand that some small talk is an important step in building the rapport with the customer that is an integral part of making a sale. I also understand that there is a line between talk and gossip, between conversation and information overload.
As a sales rep, if the customer wants to talk, LET THEM, to a point. But please keep in mind that you have a job to do and that time is a valuable resource. If as a rep you are doing the mindless talking, STOP! Use conversation to get to know your customer, use it to get on common ground with your customer, use it to help the customer. Don’t just talk for the sake of talking.
What happened to me should never happen to your customers. I went into the store anticipating my purchase, got excited what I found the perfect product, and left wishing I had never gone into the store to start with.
Samson killed 1000 Philistine solders with the jawbone of an ass, everyday 10 times as many sales are lost using the same weapon! (Think about it for a second, it is a true and yet very funny statement!)
Lorin
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