Do you talk too much? Are you a soft-spoken, well-meaning person who doesn’t know when to shut up? Are you the type of person who has been told you need to ‘talk less and listen more?’ Are you a social butterfly?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you might be costing yourself sales.
So let’s just jump right into it.
Table of Contents
4 Reasons Why Salespeople Talk Too Much
According to a Harvard Study, salespeople tend to talk too much because, essentially, they love the sound of their own voice. Let me give you some other reasons that this happens as well.
1. No goal in sight
If you don’t know what the end game is, then how will you know when to stop talking? Before every phone call or sales presentation, ask yourself “What am I trying to accomplish with this conversation?” I always recommend getting a basic script for every sales presentation you make, so you know exactly where you’ll be going, when you need to stop and ask for the sale, and when you need to stop and listen to the prospect.
2. Your nerves get the best of you
When you don’t have a clearly defined goal, it’s easy to start spiraling and losing control of the conversation. Guess what happens when you lose control? Your presentation starts to become nerve-wracking. Guess what happens when your nerves start running high? You end up talking too much. People with high anxiety and nerves end up talking a lot more than they should.
3. Fear of confrontation
You don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, so you keep talking to avoid an argument. Let’s face it, silence is uncomfortable. Salespeople have a tendency to overtalk when asking for a sale because they’re afraid of confrontation. They are afraid of the prospect saying no — so they end up talking themselves out of the sale.
4. Not understanding the importance of brevity
Brevity in sales is one of the most important skills you can learn. What do I mean by this? Brevity in sales is the ability to get your message across, concisely, without rambling on. If you needed to sell your service in one sentence, would you be able to?
How can I talk less and listen more in sales?
So what can you do?
Start by understanding that silence isn’t an indication of failure, but rather a sign that things are going well. Then take some time to ask yourself these three questions before every call:
1. What am I trying to accomplish with this conversation?
2. Why is it important for me to get what I want?
3. Why is it important for the customer, or whoever is on the receiving end of my proposal, to say yes (and get what they want)?
Once you know your goal, why it’s important to you, and why the customer should say yes, then you’ll be in a better position to know when you’ve achieved your goal or when it’s time to move on, time to take a pause (and stop talking) or time to ask questions.
Why is silence a sign that things are going well?
Communication is all about a back and forth. Just like with relationships — if it’s too one-sided, it’s never going to end well. Silence gives the other party or prospect time to think, gather their thoughts and formulate a response.
To be successful in sales, first and foremost, is about helping your customers solve a solution to THEIR PROBLEMS. Even if you are selling the same service or product to everyone, the end goal may be the same — but everyone that you speak to will have unique challenges to them, so getting there is going to be a bit of a unique path each time.
If you can master the art of brevity, then you’ll create better rapport and trust with your prospects. You’ll also help them to see that they can actually solve their own problems. You need to know when to shut up, allow the silence to fall between you and the prospect, and give yourself a chance for a meaningful response from the other party.
Three techniques you can start using right now to talk less and listen more
1- Take Unconvential Pauses:
I was taught this technique when I first started in sales. Basically, what I was taught was to literally pause at random parts of my presentation. That’s what I was told. “Just take random pauses.” We’re talking In the middle of sentences, at the beginning of sentences, wherever, whenever.
I thought it was a little crazy at first, and I don’t even think the guy who taught me about it knew why it worked so well (or maybe I’m just not giving him enough credit.) But basically, what’s going on here is that you’re getting the prospect engaged. The brief pauses give them time to fully grasp what’s going on, interject with any questions, but also, it gives them time to throw objections your way; which really isn’t a bad thing, because again, it gets them talking and gets you closer to understanding their real problems.
2- Break up your script to ask them what they think
If you are using a long-winded script or presentation without many breaks, I highly recommend breaking it up.
Ask them questions about what they think, get them talking for a little bit, and then get back on track with your presentation. It’ll help you understand their concerns further without having to ask directly, and also puts the ball in their court – which is always good.
Like I explained earlier, some great ways you can accomplish this is by throwing in questions such as:
- “Does that make sense to you?”
- “Do you see why that’s a problem?” (Obviously, use this one when talking about a current pain point, NOT when describing your product benefit.)
- “Makes sense?”
- “Understand where I’m coming from?”
3- Show them you ARE listening:
This one is pretty simple but powerful. If all you do is listen and repeat, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with the prospect. By now, they know you are listening, but it’s important that they know that they have your full attention and that their time is valuable to YOU as well.
I do this all the time in phone calls. I take notes. I write down what my prospects tell me they want and need. I save the notes in a CRM for that prospect. Whenever we have future conversations, and sometimes even LATER on in the call – I’ll reference our notes. But you would be astonished, at how many times I would call a prospect back, mention notes from our previous conversation and THEY would be astonished and tell me I wrote great notes. Guess what happened? Those cold leads became instantly warm and listened to my entire pitch. Don’t just listen, show them that you listen.
How much talking should a salesperson do?
There are some people who will give you a formula and an actual percentage on listening vs talking on a sales call. I think it’s kind of a ridiculous proposition to put a number behind it, but it’s a good starting point.
First off, there really isn’t a set amount of talking that you should do. The key here is to gauge the moment and trust your gut instinct.
Feel like the conversation is starting to go off the rails and starting to get a bit one-sided? Take a break, and start asking some questions. Even a simple “Does that make sense to you?” or “Do you see how this makes sense?” will help.
And listen – this goes BOTH ways.
What happens if you have a super chatty prospect, who just won’t stop talking? Do you follow these arbitrary formulas and numbers you read online about talk/listen ratios and let them chew your head off?
As I said, communication, just like a relationship is a two-way street. You need a healthy back and forth.
Listening to the prospect, to really understand what they want is important. But at the end of the day, you as the salesperson, need to take charge and control of the conversation at some point or another.
You are the one with the solution, at the end of the day.
What is active listening in sales?
Active listening is a technique that is used to help you understand your prospects better. You need to pay close attention to the words they’re using, how they’re saying something and what their non-verbal cues are.
You can’t do this if you’re talking too much, though!
Active listening involves repeating the prospect’s words back to them — without actually saying it. You can do this as a question or as a mirroring of the prospect’s words back to them. Basically, the difference between listening and active listening – with active listening, you are acknowledging them and letting them know they are being heard.
For example, a friend had recently told me how his business had slowed down quite a bit because of COVID. I jumped in and said, “Yeah, it’s been rough for us too. How are you guys holding up?” And then he went on for another few minutes about recent changes at his company before thanking me for listening and asking about things.
Anyway, probably not the greatest example. But my point is, do you see how by saying something back to them, not only do they feel like they’re being heard, but also that you are actually paying attention? It’s one of the best ways to build trust with a prospect.
Like I said, a quick acknowledgment to show that you are listening goes a long way.
How to practice your active listening skills
There are so many things that come into play when you’re on a sales call, but active listening is by FAR the most important. It’s even more important than convincing them to buy from you — because if they can’t trust your opinion, then what’s going to make them want to do business with you?
It’s also one of those things that you can practice and get good at. On a personal level, I’m not the most chatty person in the world, but if it’s something that comes from a deep-seated passion for me, then watch out – I’ll talk your ear off. And I would hope that you would at least acknowledge some of what I said, rather than just letting me sit there and chew your ears off.
So how do you actually practice active listening? Just in your day-to-day life with friends and family, when you’re in conversations with them, try to be in the moment. Listen closely to what they are saying AND how they are saying it.
Don’t worry about that text you got or that email notification on your phone, just listen.
People love being heard. And when you’re dealing with prospects — giving them a stage to speak on might just open them up enough to give you all the information you need to close the sale.
Conclusion
Talk a little less. Listen a little more. But at the end of the day, just remember that you are there to solve your customer’s unique problems by offering your services and products.
