Want to sell more? Shut up!

This article was halfway finished, with the title you see above, when I got an email with this subject line: "If you want to sell better, just shut up!"

Whoa, I thought. Readers often send me emails with the article title as the subject line. But this article hadn't yet left my computer! What was going on?

Turns out it was a pitch from Sara Schulte at Empower Public Relations. I'm revealing the source because Sara did a nice job. It's rare that an email pitch passes even the most rudimentary of tests. I ended up interviewing Steve Fretzin, which was Sara's goal. Steve is a sharp sales coach in Chicago. So this article is now more about him, because I appreciated his wisdom and techniques, and I knew you would benefit from them.

But first a quick back-up. I was writing this article - with this headline - because I had just spent an hour and 45 minutes listening to one of my clients, a brilliant technical CEO, pitch a prospective client. I was gathering information so that I could help him improve his entire revenue-generating process.

Of course I sent him a detailed email afterwards, suggesting things he could have done better.

But I also realized that anyone selling could benefit from one of the lessons I mentioned in the email: Talk less and listen more.

Turns out my client likes to pitch up front so his potential clients don't think he's just repeating what they said when he responds to them. But in fact, the client didn't fully engage until later in the call, when he started asking her questions about her situation. These questions should have come earlier. Questions such as. "What is your background?" "What are your responsibilities now?" "Who else is involved in these types of decisions?" "What is your biggest challenge right now?" "How have you tried to solve that problem in the past?" Once she started answering these questions, he was able to explain how his firm would be able to help her. That's when the call really started to take a positive turn. It could have happened a lot sooner.

Every person who sells - every single one - makes this mistake. Even a non-salesperson technical CEO will spend too much time talking, if you get him going on his favorite subject (in this case, his company).

On a sales call, there are two ways we all talk too much. Either we don't listen first, then talk, or we talk too long when it's our turn. The point is, a successful sales call is not a one-way performance. It's a two-way conversation - and, as Steve Fretzin also agrees, the customer should be doing the talking 80% of the time.

You can't sell if they don't buy. If the customer leaves the conversation satisfied, you've both won. If you are the only one satisfied at the end, you both lose. You may believe that you "covered everything" and "did a good job of pitching." But it doesn't really matter that you were satisfied.

What matters is the problem the customer is trying to solve, your ability to understand that problem, and then your ability to present your company's solution to that problem - without dominating the conversation.

Great selling tips

Now back to Steve. In addition to teaching many of the concepts I teach, he had some great advice and unique methods that will help you sell.

Steve has been a sales coach for ten years. He started out setting up franchises, and learned a lot about what makes a business successful. He now helps others grow their businesses.

Here are some of the concepts that I thought might help you:

1) Don't use the first phone call to make your pitch. Use this call to establish relevant rapport, and to make a future in-person or phone appointment. Pitching doesn't work on the first call; it's too much, too fast. The customer isn't involved yet, so they'll just tune out. Of course, if the call goes well, and the customer decides to turn this into a pitching call, that's fine.

2) Make the call "permission based." Steve says you have ten seconds (I'd say sometimes even less) to make sure the call is going to continue. Use those first ten seconds to introduce yourself, then ASK the customer if you can have 30 seconds to explain why you're calling. Most everyone will give you those 30 seconds.

3) As soon as you have stated the reason for your call, ask them some questions that they can respond to. Steve used the example of someone selling IT services. That salesperson would say something like, "We typically help people who are frustrated because their servers keep going down. Or, they are overwhelmed with spam. Or, they are frustrated because it always seems like there is one crisis after another. Does any of this happen to you?"

 

The person will answer yes, because these things happen to all of us. What's great about this method, though, is that the salesperson is identifying his company's area of expertise as he is asking the question. As the customer is listening to the salesperson, he will be thinking, Yep, that's me. Yep, I have that problem. They obviously solve the kinds of problems that I have.

This method gets to the heart of this person's sense of urgency. Someone is calling who can help, and the IT person has these problems NOW. So instead of the next step being a "curiosity meeting," it becomes more of a "problem-solving meeting."

What excited me about this technique is that, by the very nature of the questions you are asking, it's obvious that you understand the customer's problem and can help. Salespeople, if they really understood this, would be so much more effective. Steve talks about going into a doctor's office, and having someone come up to you in a white coat. The person starts to ask polite and thoughtful questions about your symptoms. The more questions he asks, the more you trust him. You would assume he was a doctor, even if he wasn't, because of the questions he was asking.

Steve helps a lot of lawyers "sell," and finds that they want to launch into the "solution" far too early in the relationship. By teaching them to ask intelligent questions, the customer will come to his or her own conclusions about the expertise of the lawyer, without the lawyer actually solving the problem. The lawyer can do that when he's getting paid, not when he's selling.

When the customer is talking 80% of the time, and you're talking 20% of the time, you're better off using the majority of your time asking intelligent questions.

4) Know a lot about the customer before you make the call. With all the information available on the Internet, there is no excuse for not doing some homework before you get a prospect on the phone. Use this information to establish rapport with the customer. "I just read an article about you in Entrepreneur.com about X," the salesperson can say. The customer will be pleased the salesperson knew, and will also be pleased to spend some time talking about it. Steve says too many salespeople try to rush through calls - because they are respectful of the person's time. But when the customer is talking about himself, he won't want to rush.

Next time you're on the phone with a customer, remember that 80/20 rule, and remember to ask questions. Those two changes in your sales call behavior will change everything - for the better.