You Had Me At Hello

Remember the movie Jerry Maguire? Near the end Tom Cruise bursts into Rene Zellweger’s home and goes on a rant about how much she means to him, how important she has become, etc. After a five minute monologue, Rene says, “You had me at hello.”

It’s fascinating how many people talk way too much during a sales conversation. I recently had an interesting conversation with another sales trainer and author. This person contacted me about a program he thought I would like to participate in and 45 seconds into his presentation I knew I wanted to get involved. However, he talked non-stop for another three to five minutes and going through my mind was, “Stop already! I’m interested so you don’t need to sell anymore.”

The next time you meet with a new prospect or existing customer; monitor how much time you spend talking versus allowing the other person to speak. If your prospect or customer has less than 50% of the airtime, you are talking too much and this can be costing you valuable sales opportunities.

Invest more time listening instead of talking and you can notice a significant difference in your results.

© 2008 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.

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Comments

[Kelley Robertson]

Thanks for the comment, Mona. It's still astonishing how many people don't grasp the concept of letting their prospect or customer talk. Wishing you continued success with your business!

[Mona Piontkowski]

Great blog.

Back in another life before I founded SeminarInformation.com I was a Sales Manager for a seminar wholesaler. I can't tell you the number of times I would listen to a perfectly capable salesperson talk themselves out of the sale. There comes a time in the sales process when you must stop and listen - 9 times out of 10 the potential customer will sell themselves by telling you exactly what they are looking for. I'd tell my salespeople - introduce yourself, briefly tell the client what the call is about and then sit back and LISTEN they'll tell you if they want to buy - you're just there is assist in the sales process.