Shakespeare said The pen is mightier than the sword.
Steve Lawson said Your mouth is the most dangerous weapon you have.
Okay, I m no Shakespeare. But there is a lot of truth to that saying. Some people put a lot of thought into WHAT they say, but very little thought into whether they should say anything at all. Here are three specific situations in which I have repeatedly seen advisors LOSE SALES by saying too much.
Situation #1: Shoppers looking to buy a car don t want to know how to build it. Usually, your clients work with you because you are the expert. That takes the burden of being an expert off their shoulders. Yet, I frequently see prospects at a goes from interested to confused, and confused people don t buy!
Most salespeople usually justify their actions with one of two responses. Some say, I want the client to understand what they are buying. While this is admirable, you cannot expect clients to understand it to the degree that you do. Remember, you re the expert. They simply need to understand the pros and cons and whether or not it meets their needs.
The other response I hear is, I want to establish credibility. This is a little trickier because it is important to demonstrate that you are competent. However, part of being competent and credible is having the ability to make confusing information simple.
Situation #2: Have you ever made suggestions to a prospect only to have the prospect thank you for the idea and then purchase your idea from another source? It happens all the time. Why? Many advisors share too much information while trying to impress a prospect...and it does not work.
Imagine trying to make a living as a guide in a popular tourist destination. You are speaking with someone who has already hired someone else as a guide. The only reason they are talking to you is because they are curious to learn if you know about something their guide does not. The more details you provide, the easier it is for them to ask their guide to take them there. If you get them excited about something that their guide cannot match, they have no choice but to hire you as their new guide.
How does that translate? You must share the benefits of your solution without telling the prospect how to implement your solution. It can often be a fine line, but every time you cross it, you run the risk of training your competition on new ideas. If this is a frequent problem for you, consider working with a professional sales trainer who will show you how to get a commitment from prospects before you spill the beans.
Situation #3: You have to give prospects time to think and respond. In many sales presentations, I have witnessed advisors ask a question, pause very briefly for a response, and continue on without an answer. Why bother asking a question if you are not getting an answer? Instead, give the client time to think and answer the question. After what seems like an eternity (6 8 seconds usually) the client will usually answer or ask you to repeat the question. Not only do answers to your questions (assuming you ask good questions) increase the effectiveness of your presentation, but it forces the prospect the pay attention to you.
All three situations, especially the last one, are tied to the fact that may people have a fear of silence when speaking. Toastmasters is a well known organization that helps people become better speakers. One of the things I learned early on in Toastmasters is that people are so uncomfortable with silence that they will say things like Uhhhh just to fill the silence. Yet, the best public speakers in the world all know how to use dramatic pauses and silence to give their speeches more impact.
Advisors and salespeople should follow this example. Learn to harness the power of silence as a tool when you give your next presentation. Saying nothing is a lot more powerful than saying the wrong thing.
Author Resource:
Steve Lawson is the Principal of Steve Lawson Consulting and the Founder of The Prospection Network. Since the early 1990s, he has been training independent professionals to grow their business while spending little to no money on marketing. http://www.ProspectionNetwork.com
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