One Powerful Way to Learn More About a Prospect

Let's start with the obvious: the sales rep talks too much. You can just say that you are nervous, scared, inexperienced, or stop talking to a prospect and say “I'm not interested” and hang up.

If you listen to a phone call from a salesperson, you will find that they are simply talking past the end. They talk about their prospects. They speak after asking questions [and don't let the prospect answer].

And they talk a bit more ...

There are many dangers of speaking. In many cases, sales representatives actually challenge when they talk past a deal. This is a general problem and is completely unique.

Another problem is that they talk about their prospects, so they look rude and give the impression that they don't care what the prospects are saying. This makes them appear to be aggressive and marketable, and prospective customers want to lose their connection.

As if all these problems are not enough, talking too much, you have learned nothing about the prospect, your needs, the pain, or what you want to help. I have always taught that prospects have all the answers: why they buy, why they don't buy, what you need to say to sell them. But if you haven't heard, you will never hear any of this.

And that means you just want to keep talking and pitching ...

The good news is that there is a powerful way to learn more about prospects. When I give you this, it looks simple, but in fact it is difficult to practice because most salespeople are very invested in conversations.

What you need to do at any point in a conversation with a prospective customer if you offer something that seems to be objectionable [such as "I'm not interested"] or simply don't voluntarily provide a lot of information Just say:

"Ah?"

Then silently press the MUTE button.

When you say it, say it in a way that expresses a question that raises the tone of your voice slightly. Practice now: “OH ??”

Don't ignore this if it's ridiculous or too simple and not very effective. This is one of the most advanced and powerful tools an actual closer has.

This week I will try to reduce my talk and listen more. And the technique you use is “Oh?” Technology. Try it and see for yourself how much you can learn from the prospect. Remember, they have all the answers ...