Sales Tip: Do Not Interrupt

Frequently interrupting customers when they are speaking sends a negative message. It's usually done for one of these reasons:

• The other person said something that energized you and you just couldn't wait to contribute your idea.
• You disagreed with the customer and were so angry or disturbed by his/her position that you felt compelled to state your own.
• You felt the customer was being long-winded, and you were too impatient to allow him/her to finish.

None of these are valid reasons to interrupt a customer. Whatever you gain by getting your two cents in prematurely, you may lose from a relationship perspective.

You may be making a valid point, but your customer may not appreciate your delivery method. This also goes for sales managers in regards to your sales staff.

Sales Tip: Talking too much

Many salespeople get hired because they have the infamous "gift of gab." There is a pretty good chance that you've worked with someone who loved nothing better than the sound of their voice. These reps are great at telling stories, but they struggle to connect and create deeper dialogue with prospects and customers.

Many customers are being asked to do more with less today. Spending time with an overly friendly (see all chatty) sales rep isn't a priority, it's a liability.

Being able to clearly and succinctly articulate a compelling story is vital to your success. Your goal is to be brief, be bright and then be gone.

Before you make your next call, ask yourself: Why, given all of the competitive alternatives available, should this prospect want to do business with me right now?

Getting the customer involved

Next time a customer stalls out on you, ask them as a next step to review something for you. It might be a report you're going to email to them or it might be something on a website.

The key is to see if they will provide some input to you. This simple activity is one of the best ways to measure how serious a prospect is in doing business with you. Someone who is serious will do what you ask them to; someone who is not won't.

Their response to what you ask them to do will not only give you a sense of their level of commitment, but also may give them a quick "out" to indeed tell you they are not interested. Either way, it allows you to move forward. Either they are a serious prospect or it's time to drop them and move on.

Another great tool to measure the seriousness of a prospect is to ask them to share with you some proprietary information. It might be a question you ask regarding the strategic focus of their business or how their volumes are for this month.

It can be almost anything, but when you ask them a question that requires them to reveal something that is not known outside the company, you will quickly determine if the customer has confidence in you. Since confidence is what customers are really buying, then a key to knowing if a sale is going to occur is if they will share with you something of proprietary nature.