The surprising power of silence on sales calls

So this is one skill that most people think definitely don't need in sales.

But yeah, it's actually surprising how powerful it can be for you.

And that's silence.

Now, I can't do silence on a podcast this week because you're gonna think, wait, I'm listening to something.

What the hell's the point?

But I wanted to talk to you about the surprising power of silence within sales calls and conversations and how you should start to utilize it more effectively if you want to basically get win more business at the rates and levels that you want them to.

So look, this podcast this week's gonna be quite short, but I wanted just to basically go through an element around silence and why it's so important.

And the challenge that most people think in a sales situation is that silence is something that it should never happen.

Everyone worries about the fact that if you're in a meeting with a potential prospect and there's no conversation, that there's a problem.

And of course, there are times when if you've got silence and it's not going anywhere, then you don't want that for the good nature of trying to do business with someone.

But I want to share with you some examples of where silence is really important when it comes to sales and why you need to basically go quiet rather than talk if you want to win something and get something done.

So a couple of areas where I see silence as being really critical.

The first point is when you've spoken to a prospect around your solution.

One of the things I see an awful lot is people talk about their solution and then they keep talking and keep talking, trying to justify it and confirm what it is that they are offering.

And yet silence gives prospects the time to actually contemplate what it is you offer.

So it might be that you say, well, we provide sales blueprints to help organizations grow and achieve this, this and this.

And this is how it can make a difference in their world.

And then go quiet and providing you're watching for the reactions of the other person.

Obviously if you're on a phone call, it's hard to do this, but if you're in a face to face meeting, you can watch for the reactions.

And sometimes within a sales situation, you can see someone's brain whirring.

Or I've been in meetings where you can see they're looking upwards and thinking about what it is you said and what you need to let certain people, certain types of clients, certainly people that are what I would call in the disc style, more conscientious or blues who are not overly talkative, they need to think about what is being said to them.

Silence enables them to comprehend what it is that you do.

And so the other reason why I think silence is also a real powerful mechanism to think about or to use is that if someone is going silent, but I can see that they're thinking about things, what that means to me is in my head, in their head, they're probably thinking around what the pros and cons around this.

They're sort of justifying maybe through logic or through in their brain what's going on.

And the last thing they need is someone then talking at them where they've then got to use their ears to listen, to react to that person.

When they could be contemplating what it is that's going on and actually showing genuine interest, they might think, well, how will this work?

And what will this do if I do this?

And if we did that this way, how will this operate?

So silence will also be in a position where you can enable people to really see that they're really interested in what it is you've got to offer and whether that's silence from the other person or from you.

You know, there was a great saying once that the first person to talk loses.

We don't want to have those type of games always with prospects, but we do want to leave that may that uncomfortable period a bit more than we think, especially if we can see that the prospect's thinking about something.

The other thing I think silence can also look to do is that it shows as a salesperson that you've got confidence in who you are.

A lot of salespeople tend to talk because they're nervous.

And I know this, I'm going to lie.

This is an area where I've found I'm confident in what I do, but I talk and sometimes I talk too much.

And when you listen to people that only have a certain amount of things to say and they say it and then they go quiet and are comfortable with that silence.

I sometimes go, wow, they've got a real sort of hard edge to them.

They've got a real steel to them.

And they're comfortable with that silence.

They're comfortable with quiet spaces.

And what that tells me and what it shows to the prospect is that also this person's not going to be pushed around.

It shows that they've got, you know, true, you know, you know, understanding of themselves and mastery of themselves.

And therefore they're probably not the sort of person that can be coerced into doing Something So they've got this sort of steel, you know, you know, hard nose element to them which makes people think, wow, okay, this is a person that's, you know, able to help us do what we want to do.

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Now back to the podcast.

The other reason why silence is also really important is and there was a great, you know, Simon Sinek, the great business guru, talks around, well, when you talk, you already share something that you know.

When you listen, I be silent, you learn something.

And so when you're silent, it's going to encourage your prospect to talk, and it's going to encourage them to share what they're thinking and what they're feeling and what they're going through and what their challenges are.

And one of the biggest mistakes and misconceptions that people have around sales and selling is that it's about people that are talkers rather than those that are quiet and ask more questions.

And I don't think that's can be further from the truth.

Yes, you've got to build rapport, but you have to be in a position where you encourage the other person to talk if you're to find out what's really driving their agenda.

And so the only best way to do that is to ask a great question, an open question, or maybe a closed question if need be, but mainly an open question, and then go silent and let the other person talk.

And the other way in which silence is also really important is one of the key mistakes that salespeople make is that they ask a question, and I've done this again myself, they ask a question and they then they hear the answer, but they can't wait to talk because they want to reply back to the other person rather than actually expressing true silence and watching and listening and being intently focused on the other person shows real Active listening.

And it makes the prospect feel that they're not just, you know, wait, you know, they're not just going to say something just so they can hear their own voice, but they really want to listen to what that person has to say.

So if you ask a great question to someone and then you're actively listening to what they have to say and you're letting them get their words out, and even if they're not sure how to say something or they're struggling to get words out at a certain point in time, don't interrupt them, just let them flow.

Just, you know, maybe use gestures to be able to, you know, to, you know, to actually sort of say keep, keep going.

Or maybe, you know, just even, you know, small amount of phrases they keep going that can help the prospect come through with what they're actually feeling at a certain level rather than hearing a salesperson then talk at them and want to talk and be hearing their side of you.

And also when you're silent, it can work really effectively to bring prospects back into the conversation because may well be that the prospect doesn't like there to be points in the discussion that are not.

There's no conversation, it might be makes them feel awkward.

So an example of that would be I've had a number of occasions where a prospect has asked me, is there anything we can do on price?

And because I've gone silent and the way I've approached it is to sort of be quite silent and to sort of look like I'm thinking, but left the pause for maybe 10, 15, 20 seconds, the prospect has answered their own question.

I've had someone literally four weeks ago that when they said to me about nothing we can do on price, and I sat there and I sort of put my hand to my chin and started thinking within 10 seconds they came back and said, oh, actually no, we still want to do this, we don't need to worry about that.

So by showing silence myself, the prospect answered their own question because they felt a little bit uncomfortable about the silence and they were able to say, oh, it's fine, actually, we don't need to worry about that.

We'll just get this and this done.

So it can actually help prospects get back to you and work with you and make, you know, and they'll answer their own questions in many respects.

And you actually then start to see in that, in that situation there, I was then able to see what they really cared about was getting this solution in place rather than necessarily the extra few hundred pounds they were going to have to pay for that.

So silence is a critical point to this.

And the final sort of bit to this, which I'll share with you around silence, is that it actually can build attention to your advantage.

So when you have got those quiet moments where you want to speak but you resist that urge to speak and you can see that, you know, if it's a complete stalemate, of course we don't want that, but you can see that the other side is thinking through something or having a conversation.

It absolutely creates that sense where people want to move forward one way or another.

And in some cases, in some situations, we do need to be the last person to talk and let the other person have their say because we need it to get it to a crescendo or to a point where they're going to go forward or not.

And so it may well be that you might want to ask a question such as, you know, what have we got to do to make this happen?

And then just go silent and listen and watch and see the reaction that you get.

Or it may well, you be that you need to ask a question such as, you know, would you rather stay with the issue that you've got right now and then just go quiet and create that tension where they say, no, I want to get things changed, but I don't want to pay that price.

And then they've got this silence which suddenly makes them feel, well, actually I can, then they can answer their own question because they can see that you're not going to give in.

And when you have that ability to be in control of your emotions and control of what you're doing, it makes a massive difference.

It shows to your prospects, your strength, it shows confidence, it shows that you're thinking through every word that you're going to say.

And especially as you get to higher value sales with higher level people, especially in the C suite, they'll try and nail you down and grind you in to get the best deal possible.

And being able to be able to learn and be able to master the ability to keep quiet and be silent and say nothing at certain points is going to be a massive attribute to you.

Building respect from those people and being able to move things forward and get things done in the way you want them to.

So look, I wanted to share this today because people think sales is about talking.

Yes, of course you have to communicate.

But sometimes the most powerful communication is done in the form of a silence or being quiet or not saying anything or keeping your mouth shut.

And if you can master that at certain points, then you're going to be in a far better position and how to spot it, how to learn from the signals.

Look at the triggers.

At what points in meetings do you know that you've reacted and you thought through to something you think afterwards, I wish I hadn't done that.

Look for triggers.

When is it on certain words, is it on certain times?

Or maybe if you want some simple methods to solve it, just do the thing that my mum always taught me.

Count to 10.

You know, when you have a conversation with someone, you think that you want to talk, count to 10.

One, two.

We count to five.

If you can't count to 10, count to five to start with.

Just to create that bit of peace, that bit of silence, that bit of tranquility to enable both sides to maybe think and think through.

And yeah, it may well be at that point your prospect then comes in or they may even say to you, did you hear what I say?

You know, they might even ask you a question, did you hear what I said?

And when someone said that to me in the past, I've gone, yeah, I'm just thinking about it.

And that's then made them think, wow, okay.

They've not just given in straight away on the price or they've not just said that they can make something happen quickly.

They've really given it thought and it exudes confidence and impression of who you are.

That's my view on silence.

I think it's one of those things that can make a big difference for you.

Try it.

If you're a salesperson that struggles to do that, learn a bit of self control.

It can help you a huge amount.

But if you can't and you want to keep talking, then try it.

It may well be it's your skill that you think I'm just gonna batter them in submission with my words.

But the reality is, for some people, silence is gold.

So sorry to interrupt the podcast, but if you've got a sales issue at the moment that's really hacking you off, challenge me.

I'll help you solve it.

Reach out to me.

Drop an email at hello ameswhite Business and I will help you solve your sales challenge.

There's not one I don't think I can't handle.

There's no sales issue that I can't resolve.

I've seen them all over my career.

I want to help you solve yours.

So reach out to me.

Let's make sure we handle your sales challenges and fix them so you can get back to smiling again.

Now back to the podcast.

So as I always finish the podcast with a short story on an inspirational story and I wanted to share a story of a wonderful young man called Harry Smith, who was aged 13 from St.

Albans.

And really sadly, she passed away.

And Harry vowed to carry on a fundraising challenge every April in a month that he now calls Active April.

And since then he's raised over £30,000.

So in that time he swam a mile, he's climbed a mountain, Scarfield pike.

He cycled his 13 year old 75 km from the hospital where Emily assisted, received his treatment to his home and he's also run the London Marathon.

And I think when you see young men at the age of young lads at the age of 13 who are taking on challenges like this because of what happened to his sister, it inspires me incredibly.

He's also completed 192 mile walk, raising money for the charity to help his sister or the charity at Adam Brookes hospital where his sister was treated.

So look, I think that people like Harry at the age of 13, you've got so much to look forward to in life.

But yeah, I've had such, you know, tough times, losing such a relative, losing such a sister at an early stage are an inspiration to me and I hope it's something to make you think when you're going through your down moments.

Actually, do you know what, Maybe it's not as difficult as Harry is and maybe I can take inspiration From Harry, who's 13, into making things better.

So that's it from me this week.

I hope you enjoyed the Power of Silence.

I couldn't have been silent throughout the whole thing because otherwise you wouldn't hear the podcast.

But I hope you got the message around why it's such an important trait and attribute to have.

And I hope Harry's story has inspired you as well.

If it has, then please tell others like the podcast, give us a rating.

We'll make sure that we continue to give you insights and knowledge that can help you achieve the sales success you want.

But until next week, thanks very much and see you soon.

Take care.

So thank you so much for listening to this episode.

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