Working in todays complex selling environment means that competition is high and your sale relies more and more on the approval of multiple decision makers. In the online world it is also likely that customers already have a description of your product from your website or your competitors and may even have people cheering for them internally.
This situation presents a perfect opportunity to benefit from a well-built relationship. Customers need assurance that you understand their needs and that you are more interested in helping them find a solution than pushing your product.
Listen to your customers
Unfortunately, most salespeople do not spend enough time letting their customer talk to develop a solid relationship. In fact global sales performance company Miller Heiman tell us that on many sales calls, the salesperson talks 80 percent of the time, leaving almost no time to listen. In addition they found that 80 percent of what we say has no relevance to our customer's needs or interest. Miller Heiman call this 80 Percent Syndrome.
80 Percent Syndrome
The 80 Percent Syndrome can be very damaging to your business relationships, causing your credibility to flounder and your opportunities to decrease significantly. Suppose you have one hour to spend with your customer. Your time is likely broken down as follows:
• Thirty-one minutes spent telling the customer about your product or service
• Eight minutes spent on idle chat
• Nine minutes spent asking questions
• Twelve minutes spent listening to the customer talk
Instead of spending the majority of the valuable time your client is investing with you talking, start your conversation by asking him or her questions. Give your customers time to answer and continue to ask questions until you are certain that you understand their challenges. Good questioning helps you determine the breadth of the opportunity and can even open the doors to new opportunities.
A great conversation can motivate and sustain your customer's interest, stimulate ideas and become the building blocks that form a strong relationship.
Just recently I had a meeting with a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) clearly a decision maker and key buyer. This was an important meeting for my company. He did the majority of the talking especially about his business and I chipped in with as many astute questions as I could to further my understanding of his issues. At the end of the meeting which went for over an hour I really felt I hadn’t offered him many solutions at all. As we shook hands he said “well you seem to understand our business and you have some great ideas so lets get together again in a week with some of my key people”.
The reality is that we listen at 600 words per minute and talk at around 150 words per minute. We should keep these ratio’s in mind when making a sales call.
Next time you make a sales call either on the phone or in person, remind yourself to stop talking and start listening.