Selling doesn’t start until you ask a question

This may sound counter-intuitive.Yet, it’s a hard truth that you can’t sell if you’re doing all the talking.If a buyer wanted a one-sided conversation with you about your product, they’d visit your website. At least there they’ll be able to gather the same information without someone blathering at them.If you’re having a conversation with the buyer, chances are high they’ve already scanned your site. And if you can’t provide more value to the buyer than your website, how are you helping them?You invest your time and effort to capture a few precious moments of a prospect’s attention.When you finally connect and have the chance to actually talk with a potential buyer, you’re so excited that you immediately launch into your pitch.Which is problematic.

Ditch 'The Pitch'

When you’re pitching all you're doing is advertising. You’re like a commercial on TV (or Hulu), only less effective and less entertaining.Instead, lead off a conversation with a question that requires a thoughtful answer.You have a choice. I call it: "Ask. Don't tell."It's a simple sales behavior I teach that any seller easily can master to transform how they engage the attention of buyer.The “Ask. Don’t tell” habit goes like this. Anytime you feel the need to open your mouth and expound on the glories of the product or service you’re selling, ask a question instead.Instead of telling the buyer “We think you'd receive incredible value from X feature…”; ask something along the lines of “If you could do X, what value would you receive from being able to integrate that into your system?"The key in learning this habit is to learn to pause for nano-second when you feel the overwhelming impulse to start talking.During that pause, acknowledge that you have a choice to make.You can choose to talk about yourself and risk losing the attention of the buyer.Or you can ask a question that focuses on and engages the interest of the buyer.Only one of the choices rewards you by building trust and leading to a collaborative discussion with the buyer.This reward turns "Ask. Don’t tell" into a habit you’ll keep using over and over. Why?Because you can measure its ROI through the increase in the number of meaningful sales conversations you have with your buyers.