Up here in the true north I have had the experience of working with many different account managers during the past. There are some that stick out in my mind because they had the technical knowledge, they had the sales abilities… and yet they couldn’t survive among the agents with less knowledge or experience. The problem that these agents had is not limited to a select few agents because I hear it happening all of the time.

Here is a likely scenario: The sales agent gives the pitch and goes through the sales cycle. The customer starts to talk about their needs and the sales agent cuts off the customer and continues with the sales cycle. The customer does not get their questions answered; the sale does not take place.

This is a common problem that many salespeople have… mostly when selling products or services over the phone. You need to remember that the “sale” is not about “you”, it is about your customer. They are the one who is spending the money… shouldn’t they get to state their wants and needs?

An easy way to avoid this pitfall is to ask questions (and let the customer answer). Once the customer gives their answer you can then reiterate their answer back to them as a confirmation. This is called active listening. By repeating their answer to them (in different wording) it shows the customer that you were in fact paying attention to them. Don’t do this for every answer because you do not want to overdo it and sound like a used car salesman.

You need to keep in mind that silence lets the customer think about what you have just said and give you an answer. In fact, it will almost force them to answer you because sometimes the silence can get uncomfortable… and this works wonders when using a “sales close”.

For example: Your customer wants to buy some monitors. You go over the features and benefits and your customer understands them. Your next question should be “and will that be on PO or credit card”? Then keep quiet because if you speak first you lose. If the customer says either PO or the type of credit card they will be using you should immediately ask for the PO number or the credit card number because the sale has just been made. If they respond with anything else there is something that is preventing them from making the purchase and you need to ask more questions to find out what that is. Tie up those lose ends and try a different close…

Remember: Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all!