SHUT UP AND LISTEN!

I've been spending the past week talking to quite a few people on the phone. Long story - but there are some new things happening soon and I've been talking to a few potential suppliers. I'll say no more about that for now.

But I've got to say that, in general, their sales techniques have been absolutely bloody awful!!!

And if you're about to switch off because you don't work in sales or you're not interested in sales - stay with me, because this is important. Sales are about COMMUNICATION - and more to the point - they're about getting what you want.

Every time you open your mouth to talk someone round to your way of thinking - whoever they are - you're attempting to make a sale. And if you want a masterclass in how NOT to do it, give me a shout and I'll put you in touch with all the people I've been talking to this week on the phone.

Ok - I'm being a bit tough on them. It's not their fault and they don't mean any harm. They're trying to do their best, but they're not - repeat NOT - succeeding.

Here's what they did. After the initial 'hi, what can I do for you?', they launched straight into what they THOUGHT they could do for me, what they THOUGHT I wanted, and what THEY had to SELL to me - rather than asking me some nice open-ended questions so I could tell THEM what I wanted. Their sales technique was all about THEM - and not about me. Mistake.

To make matters worse, they also bombarded me with jargon, technical language and that nonsensical 'business language' that so many people seem to speak these days because it makes them feel important or clever. One of these people actually told me that he could help me 'leverage the kind of data that I wanted to action', as long as I was able to 'revert' to him with more 'informations' by the end of the week.

What? Comment? Que? Lo non capisco!

Being a good salesman is about being a good communicator. It goes like this:

1. Ask open-ended questions - beginning with 'What, where, when, who' or 'how'? For example, 'what is it you'd like to achieve, ideally, with this project?' Or, 'how many people do you want to get your message across to, ideally? '

2. Once you've asked your question(s) - shut your mouth and let the other person start talking. And let them finish what they're saying.

3. Once someone has told you what they want, you can then decide if you have something they want to buy from you (a much better way of thinking about it than focusing on what you have to sell)

4. Once you've decided on what they might want from you - tell them. In plain English (or whichever language you're speaking at the time) - but importantly - use their language, not yours. Use the words and phrases they used when they were talking to you. And never, ever, ever use your own (or your company's) jargon.

So next time you're trying to get what you want, try talking a bit less and listening a bit more. It works wonders.

That's all for now,

Mark and Scott