{"id":2577,"date":"2015-05-29T07:36:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T12:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/?p=2577"},"modified":"2015-06-03T10:10:36","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T15:10:36","slug":"silence-kills-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2015\/05\/silence-kills-deals\/","title":{"rendered":"Silence Kills Deals?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My mouth is still agape after reading this article in the MSP Business Journal \u2013 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bizjournals.com\/twincities\/how-to\/growth-strategies\/2015\/05\/how-to-close-a-sale-more-effectively.html?page=all\" target=\"_blank\">How to close a sales more effectively<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The first howler:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Anyone involved in sales knows silence can kill deals. If you present your best recommendations to a prospect and stop talking, he might say, \u201cThat\u2019s food for thought. Let me think about it. I\u2019ll get back to you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What?\u00a0 No, not true.\u00a0 The problem the vast majority of salespeople have is the <em>inability<\/em> to use silence.\u00a0 A pregnant pause is a powerful tool that helps bring forth information.\u00a0 It is important to remember that the person asking the questions is actually the person controlling the conversation.<\/p>\n<p>The second howler:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>They are all closed-end questions. When faced with a \u201cyes or no\u201d choice, the uncomfortable answer is \u201cno.\u201d Read the questions, answer \u201cno\u201d and see how you feel. It\u2019s likely a negative answer requires justification and you can\u2019t immediately think of reasons.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>These suggestions come from the financial world which is predominantly based on selling to \u201cconsumers.\u201d\u00a0 Maybe things are different there, but in the B2B world open-ended questions are necessity.\u00a0 It has been my experience that prospects are comfortable and adept at saying no.\u00a0 My experience has been that close-ended questions quickly move you to the \u201cthink it over\u201d response from the prospect.<\/p>\n<p>The author clearly has a different approach to selling and perhaps it works well for him.\u00a0 My take is that these tips would lead to atrocious results in the B2B world.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to close more effectively, invest all, and I mean <em>all<\/em>, of your time in developing your qualifying skills.\u00a0 At the end of the day, qualified deals close themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My mouth is still agape after reading this article in the MSP Business Journal \u2013 How to close a sales more effectively. The first howler: Anyone involved in sales knows silence can kill deals. If you present your best recommendations to a prospect and stop talking, he might say, \u201cThat\u2019s food for thought. Let me think about it. I\u2019ll get back to you.\u201d What?\u00a0 No, not true.\u00a0 The problem the vast majority of salespeople have is the inability to use silence.\u00a0 A pregnant pause is a powerful tool that helps bring forth information.\u00a0 It is important to remember that the person asking the questions is actually the person controlling the&hellip; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2015\/05\/silence-kills-deals\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,9],"tags":[1415,1067,184,142,1185,687],"class_list":["post-2577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-sales-techniques","tag-cro","tag-pain-probe","tag-qualifying","tag-sales-technique","tag-selling-approach","tag-selling-skill"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-Fz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1581,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/05\/5-questions-for-every-sales-manager\/","url_meta":{"origin":2577,"position":0},"title":"5 Questions For Every Sales Manager","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"May 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"A good article here from Selling Power titled Five Questions Every Sales Manager Should Be Able to Answer.\u00a0 The questions are spot on, but pay special attention to number 3 (my editing): Which lead sources result in the highest percentage of closed deals? Do you know where your best leads\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2002,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/04\/sales-interviews-are-uncomfortable\/","url_meta":{"origin":2577,"position":1},"title":"Sales Interviews Are Uncomfortable","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I about fell out of my chair reading this SellingPower.com article \u2013 Interviews Get Comfortable.\u00a0 A quick excerpt to set the tone: \"It's your job as an interviewer to make the candidate feel comfortable and it starts from the moment you see that person,\" says Barbara Pachter, a speaker, trainer,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Hiring&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1113,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/08\/new-article-the-structure-of-a-selling-system\/","url_meta":{"origin":2577,"position":2},"title":"New Article &#8211; The Structure Of A Selling System","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 6, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Part 2 in our 3 part Proactive Sales Management series has been released.\u00a0 It is titled The Structure of a Selling System and continues the homebuilding\u00a0analogy by comparing a selling system\u00a0to the framing of a house. Just to give you a taste: It took me awhile to understand what was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/website\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2289,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/03\/hiring-like-a-detective\/","url_meta":{"origin":2577,"position":3},"title":"Hiring Like A Detective","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, the title is a bit quirky, but it is true.\u00a0 A significant portion of successful hiring involves being a good detective.\u00a0 I have always taken that approach when helping our customers find the right salesperson for their position.\u00a0 To be a good detective, you need to be a bit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Assessing&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2010,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/05\/bite-sized-selling\/","url_meta":{"origin":2577,"position":4},"title":"Bite-Sized Selling","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"May 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I have come across many articles recently that promote selling tips in this recession.\u00a0 One common thread runs through all of them \u2013 chase smaller deals.\u00a0 Here is an example from Inc.com - 5 Tips for Selling a Service Now: \u201cThe big change for us in 2009 is that we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":850,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/04\/the-case-for-selling-systems\/","url_meta":{"origin":2577,"position":5},"title":"The Case For Selling Systems","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Some companies believe selling systems are restrictive.\u00a0 Other companies view them as methodical and clumsy.\u00a0 I, for one, am not a fan of the sequential step approaches that require this question be asked first, followed by this question and so on.\u00a0 Those approaches drip with insincerity. But a selling system\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sales Management&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2577"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2579,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577\/revisions\/2579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- WP Super Cache is installed but broken. 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