Unfortunately, the World Doesn’t Think You’re That Great: Small Talk vs. Big Talk
August 6th, 2014
Media research has shown the average American is bombarded with more than 16,000 bids for their attention each and every day. It also shows that within 3 seconds, we either tune in or tune out.
In most cases, we tune out.
Much has been written about methods to cut through the clutter using clever marketing, social media, and electronic techniques. However, few people know how to keep someone’s attention once they actually get someone to tune in.
The answer lies in Big Talk.
As businesspeople, most of us believe that our product or service is great. Furthermore, many of us believe that prospects are actually interested to learn more from us about it. Unfortunately, this could not be further from the truth.
A recent survey of C-Level executive buyers indicated that only 14% of conversations with salespeople resulted in any useful learning or created any significant impact. In the remaining 86% of conversations, the company representative was perceived to be creating no value or differentiation. To make things worse, the closer you get to the decision maker, the tougher it is for most salespeople to differentiate.
In today’s environment of sound bites and short attention spans, small talk simply doesn’t work. Additionally, differentiation will not be achieved by virtue of comparisons, presentations, benefit statements, product knowledge, testimonials, manipulations and demos. It will certainly not be achieved by virtue of scripts, leading questions and clever closing techniques. By using these antiquated approaches, you will actually commoditize yourself, likely doing more harm than good.
In order to differentiate yourself and your company from your competitors and be perceived as valuable in the eyes of potential buyers, you must become proficient at the science of Big Talk. Big Talk results from a comprehensive understanding of the psychology of decision making, an understanding of effective communication principles, empathic listening, emotional intelligence, sincere interest, and integrity.
Implement a Culture of Big Talk in your organization. Make sure that your salespeople master it. Doing so will bring millions to your bottom line.
Copyright © Joe Zente 2014. All Rights Reserved.
