Salespeople -- Find Your 'Inner Editor'
Perhaps Steve Job’s greatest virtue -- as presented in Walter Isaacson’s excellent biography time and again -- was his quest to simplify everything. Whether it was Apple’s products or his opinions (he was not easy to work with to say the least), Jobs got to the point quickly, and you didn’t need to be a genius to figure out iMovie or his presentations.
He was black-and-white. There was no gray in his world. The cover photo of Isaacson’s book says it all: a black-and-white photo of Jobs. The picture was chosen by the genius himself.
When Jobs was younger he went in search for spirituality in India, to search out his yogi. Salespeople should do the same. Not when it comes to spirituality, although that’s not a bad thing, but to search for the Yogi Editor inside them, the voice that says, “Don’t say that. Stop talking. Please, shut up. Get to the point.”
I’m sure you’ve heard salespeople that have great rapport with the prospect, find a common bond, have that fantastic hook, but then shoot themselves in the foot and blow the deal. Why? Well, maybe it’s because they talk too much and ignore the Editor inside them.
What’s really unfortunate is that a lot of the time the salesperson is aware that he talks too much but there’s no one to help him. This is a prime example, if ever there was one, for the manager to step in and get involved. He needs to record the salesperson and go over, line by line, word by word, some of the calls. This can be painful to both salesperson and manager, especially if the calls run over forty or fifty minutes, but in the end it’s going to save everyone time and money.
Line by line, word by word, you’ll be amazed at how much you can cut out from your daily talks. The key, of course, is to the conscious of what you’re saying and when you’re saying it. Is it time to listen? Is it time to gently turn the conversation your way? Is it time to cut the back-and-forth and ask for the business?
These are the questions your Yogi Editor is asking you.
Are you listening?
