Asking good sales questions is pivotal to your sales success. But, that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. Instead, we’re going to focus on what happens AFTER you ask these questions.
And, it’s no secret that you need to be a good listener. To most people, that’s a big duh!
But here’s the deal. After asking a sales question, if the prospect hasn’t responded in 2-3 seconds, the average seller jumps in to fill the silence.
You heard me right. Two to three seconds is the most people can stand before they start blathering. They might talk about their company, product or service. Or, they’ll ask another question, hoping that will help. It doesn’t.
You just sound like every other self-serving salesperson and your credibility goes down the drain.
One last stat for you. Research shows that if you ask a really good sales question that requires your prospect to think, it takes them 8-10 seconds to respond. That means that every time you butt in, you lose information that could help you get their business.
So what’s the solution? Learning to get comfortable with silence. It was one of the hardest things I ever did. It was painful to sit there and not say anything.
Then one day, I discovered a way to deal with it. I simply started counting one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand – all the way up to ten. If my prospect hadn’t answered by then, it was time for me to reframe the question.
The result? I gained invaluable insights into their business, priorities, challenges, objectives and decision process.
Next time you’re with a prospect, give this sales technique a shot. You’ll be uncomfortable at first. That’s guaranteed. But you’ll also be amazed at the responses you get!
