Every month I receive a variety of questions from salespeople and their managers. These come from a variety of sources - my live seminars, the monthly phone seminars, questions that are sent into my newsletter, and issues that arise in the course of my consulting work. Out of all of these, I select those that I think have the most universal application, and respond to them here.
How do you handle a customer who talks all the time?
Your question reminds me of an ex-neighbor. The ultimate non-stop talker. One year, he had Thanksgiving dinner at our house. He and I were relaxing afterward in the living room. He was droning on and on. You know about the after-Thanksgiving dinner drowsies? I nodded off in a short nap. When I woke up, he was still talking. He never slowed down, or even noticed, my ten minute nap. Now that's a talker.
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It might be OK to nod off in the middle of your neighbor's monologue, but it's not a good idea on a sales call. There is, however, an easy solution. Politely interrupt with a question. The question should direct the customer to the subject that you want to explore. When you ask a question, you direct the customer's thinking, interrupt his train of thought, and move him to think and then respond to your direction.
Here's an example. Let's say your customer started in on last night's football game, and has been going on for seven or eight minutes. You're beginning to get a little groggy, are having a hard time staying awake, and visions of lunch keep popping in your head. In a moment of desperation, you interrupt: "John, excuse me, how are you doing with those green widgets you tried last month?"
John pauses, and then launches in on the widget evaluation.
This is just one application for the salesperson's most powerful tool: a good question. The incredible power in a question is that it directs the thinking of the person to whom the question is directed. There is something in human beings that, when we are asked a question, we automatically think of the answer.
That's what makes a question such a powerful tool in the hands of a good salesperson. So, when ever you want to deal with a customer, or anyone, who is talking on and on, just politely interrupt with a question that directs the customer's thinking to the area that you want to go.
By the way, I have a number of resources available that are designed to help salespeople master the art of asking questions, check out the video and audio programs for this purpose.
Good luck. Sell well.
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If you have any comments or questions, email them to me. I do, of course, reserve the right to edit.
Here are a few articles by Dave
that you might be interested in reading:
- Your Most Powerful Sales Tool... Mastering the use of good questions is the salesperson's single most powerful interpersonal tool -- every aspect of your sales interactions will dramatically improve your results.... {Read More}
- Dealing with Difficult Customers... Difficult customers come in a wide variety. There are those whose personality rubs you the wrong way. They may not be difficult for someone else, but they are for you. And then there are those who are difficult for everyone: Picky people, know-it-alls, egocentrics, fault-finders, constant complainers, etc. Every salesperson can list a number of the types.... {Read More}
- Taking Your Sales Performance Up-a-Notch... "Selling is more difficult now that it was just a couple of years ago." Most of the participants in my sales seminars nod solemnly when I make that statement. And then they begin to fidget in their seats when I follow that up with this: "And it will be more difficult next year than it is today." They become really uncomfortable when I extend that idea: "And it will be increasingly more difficult every year thereafter." That's a sobering truth that we don't like to face.... {Read More}
There are also many other action-packed articles for sales professionals that offer how-to solutions to every day sales problems that you can read online at www.davekahle.com/article.htm.
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