Silence is golden in radio sales

Peady’s Selling Engagement sponsored by IRD Prospector

Welcome to the latest weekly episode of Peady’s Selling Engagement, now available in living audio via Branded Podcasts.

In this episode entitled Silence is Golden Stephen Pead talks about the importance of listening intently to the answers to to your questions.

 

 

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Silence is Golden

Regular readers of my posts will know I’m a big fan of sales people developing and then asking great questions.

Thought provoking questions. Questions that help get to the bottom of a potential customer’s needs, challenges or business opportunities.

Problem is, many salespeople spend an enormous amount of time crafting those key questions but then fail to listen to the answer and how its being said. Too many are moving onto the next question or busy interrupting the customer.

Key point: What happens after the question is asked is a lot more important than most other parts of your presentation.

Research shows that the average salesperson, after asking a question, waits no more than two to three seconds before breaking the silence and rephrasing it or answering it themselves.

When you ask a customer a question and you don’t give them time to answer, your credibility is lost. You appear to be just like every other impatient salesperson who is more interested in asking for the sale than learning about their needs.

Other studies based on classroom teaching have shown that if you allow your customer from between 8 to 10 seconds to think about and respond to your question, you’ll have a better chance of getting the response you want. It’s called “wait time”. That 10 seconds is a long time when you are sitting or standing in silence but getting past those seconds can improve your sales dramatically, in fact it could become your secret weapon.

Asking strong business based questions, employing silence and giving your client time to respond is powerful.

Ultimately they will start talking, you’ll learn a whole lot more and you’ll strengthen your relationships. Even more importantly they’ll think you’re smarter, more credible and more caring than other salespeople.

Why not try it? Be brave, ask great questions and then wait for the answers.  Prove that silence truly is “golden”.

Until next time good selling!
 

About the author 

Stephen Pead is a media industry veteran of 30 years with significant experience in direct sales, sales management and general management. He is based in Sydney and specialises in helping SME’s market their businesses more effectively and providing training for salespeople and sales managers.

He can be contacted at [email protected]

 

 

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