“Ronan, you need to take a step back. Your enthusiasm is too much for other people. You are taking over sales meetings and preventing them from engaging with you. You talk too much”. Ouch.
That was the feedback from my first sales manager. And it hurt more than a little. But, it was accurate, and it was something I resolved to fix.
I had heaps of passion and enthusiasm. I still do. It is not an experience thing or an age thing. But it needs to be directed. And I needed to learn how to channel those strengths to ensure I engaged better with clients and prospects.
The Gift Of The Gab
I am Irish, and we are famed for our “gift of the gab”. In sales, it is no gift. It is responsible for more lost sales deals than you can imagine. I won’t give you statistics, but I can relate what I see. And I see too many salespeople talk too much. It is as if they feel they take control of the conversation, by talking.
No. It is too easy to talk. And it is counterproductive to dominate the talk time in meetings. You must let your counterpart have their share of voice. And when it comes to share of voice. They have the lion’s share. They get to talk more. And you get to listen more.
The Gift Of The Gag
Imagine you had a gag preventing you from talking in a sales meeting? You could only remove it when you had an intelligent question for your prospect or client. What would you do?
Would you listen intently? Listening with your eyes and ears, would you be more attentive to their body language? Would you note their tone of voice?
Would you give more thought to your questions? Would you interrupt less?
Would you notice that sudden change in their body language when you asked that question? Did you just touch a nerve?
Would you notice changes in their tone of voice? Does it mean they have a concern about that issue?
Would you be more flexible in your approach as you attuned yourself to the cues? You might speed up because they are giving you that signal that they are ready to move on. You might slow down because again something in their tone of voice indicated that they are unsure. Would you explore that a little more?
Would you gradually learn that control is not about taking over meetings? It is about managing how you engage with people. Allowing others their “unfair share of voice” transforms your understanding of what they are thinking.
Here is how
Imagine you have a gag preventing you from talking. You only speak when you know it is appropriate. You focus on asking questions and providing value and insight. Not information. You don’t take over. You provide some direction, but you take your guide from your customer’s questions.
They see you as a trusted advisor.
Regards Ronan
Ronan is the “Sales Infrastructure Guy”.
Helping high growth tech companies build world-class sales systems and processes that scale.
Call me on +353(86) 7732201
Ronan Kilroy | Insthinktive Sales Leadership Ltd. | Blanchardstown, | Dublin 15, | Office 01 8220523
More Sales, More Consistently, In Less Time
