“It is a great thing to know the season for speech and the season for silence” – Seneca the Elder
Most people in sales have tendency to fill space with words. It is not uncommon to hear sales people speaking so quickly they can barely catch their breath. They fill every space with a word afraid-if-there-is-a-void-they-will-fall-into-a-hole-of-blackness. The main pitfall with this is the customer will miss a lot of what is being said because they are distracted by the fast speech.
Conversely, there are sales people who love to use long pauses of silence as a show of power. This power play is intended to make their prospects uncomfortable. The main pitfall with this is – is the sales person building trust with their client when they are initiating a power struggle? Nah… the sales person is stroking their own ego. I will argue, they might win some deals with this tactic – a higher percentage of deals will be lost because their customers are irritated or just ticked off.
Silence can be very powerful – however I encourage you to use it mindfully.
- Use a silent pause in a presentation when you want to emphasize a point.
- Use a silent pause when you are asked a question and need to think about the answer (even if you know the answer).
- Use a silent pause when the conversation is wrapping up you want to ensure you have covered all the points or questions that needed to be asked.
Pausing at the right time, for the right amount of time can show your clients you are moving forward thoughtfully and cautiously. It also demonstrates that you aren’t in a rush. This is a very important point to remember – customers – today more than ever – do not want to be rushed into making a decision. When they see you –their sales person is willing to pause – they might actually move quicker than you had hoped…
I will now take a silent pause for the weekend – I encourage you to do the same! J
