Hunter says shut up, listen and sell 

In the October 2007 issue of BtoB magazine Mark Hunter, nationally recognized professional sales trainer, made this compelling point: “contrary to popular belief, to be a successful salesperson, it doesn’t matter how much you know about your product or service…the only thing that matters to be successful in selling is your ability to shut up and listen.” 

He goes on to say that asking questions during a presentation to a prospect is most important, and he recommends short questions like “Why?”  He says short questions promote long answers and long questions encourage short answers. 

Hunter puts forth a goal for every sales call:  talk only 20% of the time. A contrarian recommendation:  prepare the list of questions you are going to ask before you make a sales call.  Most salespeople spend their time planning and developing what they are going to say. 

I found another recommendation provocative.  Hunter says that half your questions should be ones that help the customer “see and feel the pain they have.”  In short, get the customer to think about the risks they face.  

This approach to personal selling is a technique that we often apply to advertising and direct mail creative assignment. Asking pain questions works.  And it works especially well for insurance presentations because your products and services are all about protecting against risks and achieving freedom from worry.