At the end of the day, we service professionals sell our smarts. We leverage our technical knowledge, our experience, and our ability to solve problems to provide value to our clients. And we do this by talking. We talk about how we can solve their problems. We talk about how we solved another problem that was similar to theirs. We talk about what might happen if they don't follow our advice. And since most of us bill by the hour, this works out pretty well.
But sometimes talking becomes our crutch, and our need to sound smart makes us do dumb things. Take the sales process for example. When we're sitting down with a prospective client, we're much better off when we talk less.
In fact, one of the fundamental techniques for closing a prospective client is the practice of being "interested" rather than "interesting." This means you ask open-ended questions that invite them to describe every little detail about their situation so that your solution is tailored.
Then, once you've incorporated all their information into your proposed solution, stop talking altogether. Allow several seconds of silence to hang in the room. And let the prospect be the one to speak next. This is called "the silent close" and it gives the prospective client an opportunity to make their buying decision. It also communicates your confidence—that you don't have to talk so much just to prove yourself.
So, the next time you're sitting down with a prospective client, notice if you're the one doing all the talking. If so, stop trying to sound so smart. Try listening instead. Try being more interested in what they have to say. Because the noisy close rarely works.
