Are you talking too much?

A financial advisor once told me about his young colleague, who, he said, had the gift of the gab. “He can talk himself through the front door … but unfortunately he often finds himself out through the back door without noticing it.”

What is the young man’s problem?

It is definitely easier to sell when you talk well, and a good idea to join a speaking club, such as Toastmasters, to polish your quick thinking and fluent speaking skills if you don’t talk well, but if you just talk and you never stop to listen to your client’s needs and requirements, you might also find yourself out in the street before you know it.

How do you listen to a client – especially when you have to sell?

Those who let the client speak are the best sales people. They ask open-ended questions and listen to answers – and they listen carefully with their whole bodies, minds and hearts to find out what the client’s real needs are.

Often clients will say they want one thing and then don’t want it anymore when you offer it to them. Or they might want one thing and settle for something totally different. Why does that happen?

People buy with their hearts and not their minds. They might need one thing but settle for something they want – and the only way you will be able to find that out is by listening. People don’t buy features. They buy benefits – the things they want for their own reasons.

How do you find it out? By listening.

How should one listen? The answer is simple: With your whole body, your eyes, ears, mind and heart. When you listen with all your faculties focused on the speaker and what he says and doesn’t say, only then will you be in tune with his real desire and will you be able to fill that gap between what he has, what he needs and what he wants.

So, our advice to the young broker is: Let your client do the talking and he’ll talk himself into buying your product.

For more information on workshops, specifically aimed at listening skills and other narrative methods to build relationships, please contact Prose&Coms, at: susan@prosecoms.co.za http://businessnarratives.blogspot.com

This blog appears as a regular column the Afridevelopment newsletter for small business owners. http://afrid.co.za/cms/index.php