It’s embarrassing, it’s obnoxious, and it kills deals dead.
“Sales breath” is a term used for many things but to me it boils down to this; sales people saying the wrong things and the wrong times and say those things WAY too much.
I’ve been on live coaching calls with sales reps that exhibited sales breath and it has always been one of the most painful things to sit through that I can imagine. The worst part is most don’t even know they are doing it!
Here are to top reasons for sales breath and the lost deals they lead to.
- Insecurity. Even sales people who are usually confident, can sometime fall prey to insecurity in a sales call. In these moments they (subconsciously) use a tsunami of words, data, facts and figures to avoid dealing with whatever conflict is making them insecure; like maybe an impending “NO!” Instead of balancing tactical talking with strategic listening, they believe that their fire hose of words will protect them from what they imagine is a threat. They refuse to turn the conversation over to the prospect. I’ve done it, we’ve all done it and it’s never served us well. Confidence along with a little humility, combined with great listening skills is what will move the sale along.
- Poor preparation. Simply put, the less you know about your service, or the prospect and their business, the more empty words you’ll have to use to communicate. You are reduced to shallow small talk rather than connecting on a subject like your prospects favorite pass time which you found out about on Facebook or LinkedIn. That’s pretty weak! With a little more prep-work the night before, using the wealth of resources we have at our fingertips the ability to learn about our prospects background, their company, even their hobbies, there is never any reason to have to resort to small talk. When there are things, important to your prospect, on which you could really be connecting, nervousness and empty words go away.
- Stress. This one is often overlooked but it’s a proven scientific fact. When we are tired and/or stressed we tend to ramble and our ability to concentrate decreases. Our brains will respond to mental fatigue by producing more words with less impact. So get enough sleep, exercise, eat right and be on top of your game. Feeling great is the ideal foundation for a great conversation.
- No plan on how you will run your call. After researching the prospect, do you have a plan for how you will run the call. If not, your counting on luck and that’s not what pro’s do. You need to have a plan that includes, how you will open the call, what line of probing questions you will use, what possible solutions you will present, and how you will take the sale to the next step. Even if your plan gets derailed, (and they do!), you must go in with a call plan every time.
- Lack of humility. Some people think the things they say are profound and important. When they talk, they experience a rush of good feelings and they often fall in love with their own words. They may use catch phrases, acronyms and complex language to impress their prospects. More often than not, bloviation leads to the prospect looking at their watch! You’ve officially lost them. Being expressive is nice, but good relationships require us to be receptive to others. Being humble, knowledgeable and confident, all at the same time, is an ultra powerful skill set.
- Holding their attention. It’s important to move quickly and efficiently to find your prospects pain or area of desired gain. While some salespeople hop around from one topic to another, others quickly get to the core of a customer’s need, solve it and close the sale. Remember, you are competing for your prospects attention. He/she may be looking into your eyes and nodding, but they may not be listening to you at all. They may be thinking about that quote they forgot to work on, or the meeting they have later with their accountant, or whatever. The fact is, business owners are very busy and their minds are going 100 miles an hour. Your challenge is to get to the point and focus on their problems, challenges and areas of opportunity. Get their attention and get them talking. When they are talking, they are focused on you. If you are talking, you can’t be sure if you have their attention or not.