Dont Be Afraid Of Silence

In any conversation with two or more people, there is a tendency to want to talk all the time to fill any awkward silences or gaps that appear in a conversation.

However, if you think of the conversations that you have with your closest friends or family, you will notice that there isn't the same need to fill these gaps, as silences between you are comfortable. This is generally because you know the other person and the type of character that they are.

Now, if we change this scenario to the sales process you will see that it is a completely different feeling to the one above. Suddenly silence is your worst enemy, the one thing to be avoided during negotiations, the realisation that you are losing the sale.

Well actually, that last statement is completely wrong!

Because a person does not say too much during negotiations does not mean that you are losing the sale. Yes, silence can be awkward to some but to those of you who want to win, silence can be your best friend.

During the negotiations, you will ask your customer a number of open questions and that is absolutely the right thing to do. However once you have asked the question, DO NOT fill the space! Resist the temptation to put words into their mouth.

In other words:

"Ask your open question and then say absolutely nothing until they have replied"

No matter how awkward it becomes or how uncomfortable it may seem, leave your customer to reply. If it takes 5 minutes then so be it. They MUST be allowed to reply in their own time without any help from you.

The reason I am pushing this point is that customers (and people in general) do not like silence. They particularly do not like long silences and they feel that they have to fill the space up with words. Before you know it they have committed to all sorts of things.

So, don't be afraid of the silence and let your customers talk their way into your sale.

Mark Anthony Harrison is a salesman. He is Head of Sales for the UK division of a US investment bank. He also lectures on sales development and management theory. To find out more visit him at http://www.managing2success.com

MORE RESOURCES:

Nearly As Far-Fetched As The Maverick Lie -- Negotiation Preconditions - Huffington Post

News of negotiation with Afghan govt baseless: Taliban’s spokesman - Online - International News Network

Trade and negotiation: Keys to Jamaica#39;s economic development - Jamaica Gleaner

No raise? Negotiate instead for these perks - CNN

Nepali PM urges for immediate negotiation with armed groups - Xinhua

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-0fd=Rurl=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/05/content_10151401.htmcid=1253724238ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNG5lNUMD2Q64G9GTYtVB0_p6g70_gNepali PM urges for immediate bnegotiation/b with armed groups/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fXinhua,nbsp;Chinanbsp;-/font nobrOct 5, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Sharma informed the PM that preparations were underway to bring the armed groups to the bnegotiating/b table quot;within 2-3 daysquot;. According to nepalnews.com b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-1fd=Rurl=http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php%3Fnid%3D163033cid=1253724238ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNHWZRHULTerSh0yp8clZEfrosdbqQGovt invites Terai-based political groups to talks/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrKantipur Online/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-2fd=Rurl=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/07/content_10156915.htmcid=1253724238ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNGznjV3uXRMUqnUyc2F82PcmffAwgNepali gov#39;t to hold dialogue with Terai outfits/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrXinhua/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-3fd=Rurl=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/03/content_10145444.htmcid=1253724238ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNFGOnN0sfBP-hdYzpRd5BW7UZ9nWwArmed outfits in southern Nepal announce ceasefire/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrXinhua/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1253724238hl=ennobrall 34 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Vietnam, Japan complete EPA negotiation - Antara

Time to talk - The Nation Newspaper

Bills, WR Evans agree on contract extension after six-month ... - Pro Football Weekly

Afghan president to seek negotiation with Taliban through Riyadh - Xinhua

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8i-0fd=Rurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7623988.stmcid=1251783735ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNGSo5IAAWq2-1RYPxplWBEPsug57gimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=VRQyW_K7L5QJimgurl=newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44859000/jpg/_44859535_karzai_afp_226b.jpg width=80 height=60 alt= border=1brfont size=-2BBC News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-0fd=Rurl=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/01/content_10138650.htmcid=1251783735ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNFfjcw6-yS1d6y6aO8k4MOnRAsW5gAfghan president to seek bnegotiation/b with Taliban through Riyadh/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fXinhua,nbsp;Chinanbsp;-/font nobrOct 1, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1b.../b occasion of the first day of Eidul Fitr to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan that the preparation for bnegotiations/b is going on a daily basis. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-1fd=Rurl=http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/10/03/afghan-taliban.htmlcid=1251783735ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNF7Q91A237G95B6hsAaX9DHr3JnUATaliban leader rejects call for peace talks with Afghan government/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCBC.ca/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-2fd=Rurl=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/world/asia/01afghan.html%3Fbl%26ex%3D1223092800%26en%3D9fa606ceef16e341%26ei%3D5087%250Acid=1251783735ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNGQRw2ZLBk7vANBFBQbV67rsBh57AKarzai Sought Saudi Help With Taliban/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNew York Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-3fd=Rurl=http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-35783520081003cid=1251783735ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNFHF2erGzS95GYOpeyNN8dqXXaWTQTaliban leader rejects talks with Afghan government/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters India/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-4fd=Rurl=http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20081001_afghanistan_moves_toward_negotiating_talibancid=1251783735ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNE6pGQ_HDwLppbwxMthoe2yl5pWcwnobrStratfor (subscription)/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/8-5fd=Rurl=http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/30/asia/01afghan.phpcid=1251783735ei=Un7qSIvBF4nK8AStmbRGusg=AFQjCNHaQlguIRHJjbaDeiTot4XEmik91AnobrInternational Herald Tribune/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1251783735hl=ennobrall 810 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Keys to successful benefits negotiation - Boston Globe

Negotiation - Google News

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