Stop Telling, Start Selling

Stop Talking, Start Listening

Most salespeople claim to be consultative, but during sales calls, many offer a “product dump,” peppering customers with lists of features and benefits. Today, most people have a “commodity mind-set” and see many products as interchangeable, so mere descriptions of your goods seldom win. Salespeople like to think they put their customers first. But most revert to manipulative techniques – for example, “If I did X, would you buy Y?” – that buyers resent.

Don’t fall back on ineffective coercive sales techniques. Instead, adopt a consultative “dialogue selling” approach, which engages your talents and assets. Dialogue selling depends on attentive listening, learning what the customer truly wants and needs, and presenting accordingly.

Are You in Send or Receive Mode?

Dialogue selling relies on posing intelligent questions that elicit answers which help you understand your customers’ thinking, and nourish your relationships with them. A dialogue-selling mode requires developing a “customer-need mind-set,” as well as sales skills. You need six skills to succeed in sales: “presence, relating, questioning, listening, positioning” ...