The Power of Silence

Good selling is about listening, not talking

We are now at that very difficult moment when you are waiting for your prospective customer to make a clear decision. Would they like your services, or not?

This is never easy, especially if you are new to sales. You are enthusiastic about what you do. You understand their needs and are convinced that you could help them, at a timescale and cost which works for both of you. Now you are just waiting, perhaps the hardest part of sales.

You must resist the temptation to keep talking, even if you feel the sale might be slipping away. I cannot emphasise this enough: selling is about listening, not talking. Right now you are experiencing an embarrassing silence.

Silence is a powerful sales tool, designed specifically to get a response from the customer. There are only three possible responses: ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Maybe’.

‘Yes’

‘Yes’ is of course the most desirable response. You both smile, and you ask them if they would be kind enough to confirm it in writing, by message or email. You end by telling them that you very much look forward to starting work on the agreed date.

For a new customer, you politely explain that you need a 50% deposit straight away, to secure the date in your diary. The rest will be paid on completion. Once you have the deposit, you will be flexible if the start date moves for unavoidable reasons, such as sickness on either side.

A Local Hero does not need a formal contract drawn up by a lawyer, unless there are very special or difficult circumstances. It would put off any potential customer to be presented, out of the blue, with a complex document they need to run past their lawyer, just to have some garden work done, or any other simple service. The message or email is enough.

You must also resist the urge to keep selling once you have secured that verbal order. You are of course excited, but resist the temptation to list all the other things you would be delighted to do for them. If you do, you might well talk yourself out of the whole deal.

This is a special message to anyone whose profile in our test came out as ‘Magnet’. We love your enthusiasm, but you have said enough for now!

‘No’

A more challenging response is ‘No’. This is of course a disappointment, and you tell them so, asking politely, ‘Why?’ This is a reasonable question and deserves an answer. If they refuse to tell you why, you quietly leave and send a single follow-up message or email, politely asking the reason for their decision.

If there is no reply, you simply take them off your prospect list and do not contact them again. They are not treating you in a professional and respectful way, so they are not your ideal customer. In my experience, if they behave like this during the sale, they will be even more difficult later on.

But if they do give a specific reason, you give it your expert consideration. Perhaps it is something you can clear up straight away to their satisfaction, which turns a ‘No’ into a ‘Yes’. It might be something you had already covered, but which for some reason they had not understood. Not a problem: they are busy people, and you are happy to clear up the misunderstanding.

It is very rare for them to come up with a new problem or objection that you cannot resolve. You have a very simple business model, and you are both professional and reasonable. But the most common objection you will hear is “You’re too expensive.”

“You’re too expensive”

This is not a ‘No’. It is actually a ‘Maybe’. They are trying to start a discussion with you about price, either because they think that is what they should do, or because they fancy themselves as skilled negotiators, given their undoubted business acumen in their working lives.

You should see this as inappropriate and borderline bullying, though you never say so to them directly. They are playing a power game, expecting you to crumble under pressure.

Keep calm and explain that your rates have been carefully thought out, are very reasonable for the high-quality service you provide, and that, sadly, you are unable to offer a discount.

You might even play the ‘higher power’ card: while you personally would have been happy to do it for less, a ‘higher power’, such as your spouse, partner or business mentor, has expressly forbidden you to do so.

The business science backs this up. Study after study shows that salespeople who are forbidden to discount are more successful than those who are allowed to. If the customer gets irritated by your refusal to budge, you have spotted the early warning signs: politely decline, and look elsewhere for business.

‘Maybe’

‘Maybe’ is the most difficult part of closing a sale. A gentler version is the very common reply, “Let me think about it”, often citing their own ‘higher power’, such as their spouse or partner.

This is very understandable, as people generally do not like to be seen making decisions too quickly. You agree that this is an excellent idea, and ask when they might be able to get this important buy-in, and when you can expect their confirmation to start work.

Then, again, you wait. If they miss that deadline, you send a polite reminder. If they still do not reply, you begin to get the feeling that, perhaps, they are not able or willing to make a simple decision.

This can be very frustrating, but you are beginning to understand that not everyone out there is as polite and professional as you are. This is ‘The Dark Side of Sales’, which I will cover in my next article.

Your one thing this week

Next time you name your price, say it, then stop. Count slowly to ten in your head if you have to, and let them speak first.