People want to be understood, which is why observing Pareto’s Principle (i.e., the  80/20 rule) is critical to your sales meetings. It’s your job as a salesperson to discover how you can help them.  The only way to do this is through comfortable discourse where 80 percent of the conversation should be your customer answering your well-formed and researched questions.

Imagine that you secured an important sales call. What do you think your chances of a positive outcome are if you spend 80 percent or more of the time talking?  I assure you the person you were talking to stopped listening 30 seconds into your “conversation.” Since then, they’ve been looking for a way to stop the pain and get you out of their office.

I found myself in this exact situation the other day. I was on a conference call with the account executive I was partnered with to help close a deal.  She’s selling the technology, and my company is implementing it. I requested the call with her to learn more about the customer and their needs in preparation for my first in-person meeting with them.  She had already had several conversations with them and I simply wanted to know as much as I could about the client before meeting them in person, making her an ideal source to mine for details.

Or so I thought…

A Comedy of Words

After the general pleasantries and introductions, my so-called partner inhaled and then spent the next five minutes exhaling a deluge of words.  I didn’t ask anything before the talking started. Heck, I couldn’t even get a word in if I tried. After taking another deep breath, she asked if I had any questions.  

I certainly did.

My first question was quite simple.  In fact, the most appropriate answer was either yes or no.  Her reply lasted so long I started killing time bouncing around the internet looking for cat videos.  Sadly, I never got the answer I sought. However, being the adventurous type, I cast out a second question; yet again a simple yes or no was the perfect answer.  Instead, another five minutes flew by as my head bobbed up and down checking my watch more than teenager checking their phone. Still no answers.

At this point, “I looked at my watch and realized that 30 minutes had already passed and I had barely said two words. The conversation turned into an odd comedy of words. When she asked if I had any other questions, I boldly said, “I’M GOOD.”

Adjusting Course for More Sales

Maybe this situation was simply due to a lack of experience, but it happens to salespeople at every level of their career. Some people are simply talkers — you know the kinds I mean.  Even in casual conversations, they tend to go off the rails. The stakes are a lot higher when we’re talking about professional conversations. Your career could be on the line!

Whether you’re a talker or not, there are a few common reasons you might feel compelled to spew too many meaningless words in your sales meetings:

• Inexperience. Maybe you’re fairly new to sales and haven’t learned that selling is not talking.
• Lack of planning. You’re not properly prepared for the meeting.
• Title anxiety. This happens when salespeople get meetings with a VP, SVP, EVP or C-Level person. They put on their underwear the same way you do, so no reason to fret over these interactions.
• Silence. You know, that uncomfortable pause in the conversation where seconds feel like hours.

Fix that Word Vomit Now!

Regardless of the reason you can’t seem to stop talking,  it’s a safe bet that unless you figure out how to say less, this problem could limit your career trajectory.  Instead of leaking words at the worst times, consider some of these simple tactics that make meaningful conversations work:

• Yes or No. – Always an exceptional answer.

• I don’t know. – Yes, it’s okay to say you don’t know but that you’ll follow up and get back to …
• Prepare. – Access to the internet puts all the information you need at your fingertips.  There are no excuses for being unprepared.
• Practice.- If you have a propensity to talk too much (like me) or get anxious during important conversations, practice is the key to a better outcome.  Just like sports, the more you practice, the more confident you get, which in turn calms you and allows you to perform better.

• Self-awareness. – Ask yourself if this article resembles you, even if it’s just an occasional gaffe.  It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you recognize them and work to improve.

If you need help stopping your endless river of words, ask a colleague, your boss, a friend or your spouse to role-play the conversation.  Most people loathe role-playing because it’s extremely uncomfortable and feels embarrassing. This is exactly why you should do it. Role-playing is hands down the best type of sales practice.  

Another option that’s often overlooked is to use the video recorder on your phone or laptop.  Replay your video and evaluate yourself. Yep, this is awkward too.

Don’t Forget Pareto’s Principle

Here’s something I can guarantee: making it to an 80/20 conversation as a salesperson takes significant preparation and practice.  It’s not always easy getting some people to talk, but keep in mind that if you are doing all the talking, nothing is being sold.

Tony Robbins put it best, “The quality of your life will be determined by the quality of the questions you ask”.

Remember to put yourself in your client’s shoes.  Treating them how you would expect to be treated is advice that’s never outdated.  It kind of sounds like the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” doesn’t it?