Let Me Finish!

“If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.”  Albert Einstein

One of my lecturers at college had a very demonstrative reaction if any student tried to ask a question whilst he was talking – ‘LET ME FINISH!’

It was so much fun to hear him say it that we’d do it sometimes on purpose just to see the eyes roll, notice the huff of indignation followed by the impatient cry ‘LET ME FINISH!’

What’s the link?

Too many salespeople interrupt a client when they’re speaking.

LET THEM FINISH!

Every word a client says to you is important. It’s not just the information they give, it’s their tone, the attitudes they convey, the way they describe their own company and its problems (which your solution is about to solve).

By interrupting them, you lose out on that information as they may never come back to it.

Humans ramble when they speak (most do anyway) and the more you can get your clients to ramble – to talk about things other than the direct answer you seek – the more you learn about them and their company.

And that makes it easier to sell to them.

Also, it’s likely to mean they’ll like you because you let them talk.

Next time you’re with a bunch of friends, listen out for the amount of times people are interrupted when telling a story.

Imagine how annoying that is for a client.  Make sure you don’t fall into that trap.