Two ears, one mouth.

Salespeople are notorious for talking too much. At times, I'm even guilty of the sales person's cardinal sin: talking past the sale.

How do we stop this? How do we know when it is time to 'pitch' and when it is time ask questions. First of all, it is NEVER time to 'pitch'. Stop 'pitching' and start asking. 'You have two ears and one mouth' my mentor used to tell me. What this means is, at a very minimum, you should be listening twice as much as you're speaking.

How many times have you, at your prospects first sign of interest, started with your pitch and ended with them saying, 'Sounds great, let me think about it.' Too many times.

It is time to stop pitching and start asking questions. I'll discuss how easy this is to do in my next post.

Remember, "In selling as in medicine, prescription before diagnosis is malpractice."