Stop talking about yourself
It’s tempting and rather normal to go onto a sales call or into a meeting, and feel we need to immediately get into selling ourselves.
You know the sales call that involves a lengthy pitch, where you the customer, struggle to get a word in edge-ways? Or the meeting where the supplier doesn’t ask you a thing, and talks A LOT about their background and what they can offer?
The problem with this approach is twofold. Firstly, people like talking about themselves; deny them this opportunity and they’re very likely to become disengaged and not listen to what you are saying. Secondly, if you don’t ask any questions, you don’t really know which areas of what you have to say are relevant. You may actually sell yourself out of a deal, if you talk about an element of your service or background that is of no interest.
Asking questions, on the other hand, allows you to find out where your focus needs to be when you get to the sales part. It allows you to discover if you can help the client, and in what area of their business, to see if your solution is a fit for their problem. This makes selling a whole lot easier, because if you’re solving a problem, half of your sale is made.
Remember that questions can be planned ahead, and should be as open as possible –
- What are the next priority objectives?
- What is the 3 year plan?
- How challenging will that be with your current team?
- Who in your team could deliver this for you now?
- What is the impact of carrying on as you are?
- How will that impact on you?
What other questions work for you? We’d love to hear from you, give us a call on 0121 347 6601 if we can help.
