Sales Training: Silence in Selling

By Mark Bowser

Have you ever met a noisy salesperson? I mean the person that just keeps talking, and talking, and talking. How would you rate their sales presentation? Is it any good? One way of gauging it is do they close a lot of sales? My gut says that they most likely don’t close as many sales as they should and here is why. Sales and success expert Brian Tracy said, “The only pressure that you use in a professional selling presentation is the presence of silence after the closing question.”

Let me put it this way, if you speak before the prospect after you have asked your closing question, you more than likely will sabotage the sale. Why? Because at this point, your entire presentation has driven the prospect to the intersection of your closing question. Your prospect is at the crosswalk waiting to cross the street. If they answer your question in the affirmative, it is as if they have decided to cross the street. If they answer “no” then it is as if they chose not to cross the street.

The key is this, many times when you drive them to this intersection with your presentation, at this point, you don’t know if the crosswalk light says “Walk” or “Don’t Walk.” Your closing question will give you this information if you stay quiet. Let the prospect roll it around in their mind for a couple of minutes. As a sales professional, you have to get comfortable with silence. If you aren’t comfortable with silence then it is as if you barreled through the intersection and ran over your prospect as they were crossing the street. So, have you ran over any prospects lately?