What are the best ways to pause and listen to your prospect's needs and objections?

After introducing myself, the very first question I ask is "Do you have a few minutes for a brief chat"... this is a way to open the door and shows the individual you are respectful of their time..

Before establishing goals and writing down a list of questions to ask, it's absolutely critical to have a strong understanding of the problems your buyer is facing. This means studying the industry you sell to and looking for insights or trends that are happening in that industry. Your outreach and questions should be rooted in a problem focus versus a product focus.

Consider how you gained access to the future customer and take time to understand why when you sit down with them. Current ways are what they know, always be complimentary of those previous choices to lower the future customer’s defenses.

To earn a seat at the table, ahead of any outreach, invest your time learning the prospect. This critical step provides you the MO "your business is my business, together we'll be successful." Authenticity comes, in part, from the pre-work; that includes review of social media, networking, Google alerts, articles including 10k's/940's. If prospect is not publicly traded, review a competitor to gather similar goals. Email the opener to yourself, if it doesn't fit your phone screen-too wordy. Show genuine interest, by sharing stories. "Client in X situation, was able to solve for/save/make, I'd love to share more" is a great strategy. Articulate your impact w/o mention of product. And, if you don't have a story-borrow one from a co-worker.

I agree with Tiffany. Asking for permission to speak is a critical first step. I prefer to ask "Do you have a moment or two?" A moment is an undefined length of time. It could be a minute or 5 minutes. Using a referral over the phone also helps. If you call very high, it is very hard for a subordinate to refuse a call from a superior or a superior's office.

Here is a five step framework I use to create a really strong active listening environment: 1) Use the power of the pause - embrace the silence which creates the space for your buyer to expand their answers and offer more context. 2) Restate what you heard with your understanding of the problem. 3) Clarify the meaning of the problem and ask about the impact on the customer. 4) Ask about the implications of this problem on the buyer's day to day AND why this is a priority to solve. 5) Gather the cost of doing nothing. The key with this framework is that you should focus on one problem at a time and explore it to it's exhaustion. Applying this framework will prevent you from rushing too quickly into solutioning mode.

Getting very comfy, being un-comfy is key. In person or online, let the tension to work for you. If you get nervous, try the Kardashians trick of "shaking the salad" to give you time to think, do so by drinking your water/coffee/tea. Through email, if after the requested date of response has passed, call or follow up with a genuine/polite, understand now may not be the right time for x, priorities must have shifted. Please reach out if it changes. Will reach out one last time on x date. Don't send the, "I'm just following up" note-you aren't. Politely lay out the current scenario, provide a timeline on next steps. Perhaps share, you'll send meaningful insights related to x topics. (And this is for you, to keep open lines of communication.)