Fast-Talker - Is this hard-to-change conversational habit sabotaging your sales?

Fast-Talker - Is this hard-to-change conversational habit sabotaging your sales?

If you are a Fast-Talker, you probably know who you are.? Or you should, at least.??

Have you heard people say: ‘Geez, slow down!’? or? ‘What?’? or? ‘I’m sorry, can you repeat that?’? Have you seen people do that little wave of the hand as if to ward something off?? Has your speech been met with that wide-eyed deer-in-the-headlights gaze?? If the answer to more than one of these is Yes, you are likely a Fast-Talker.??

It can be challenging having a faster pace of communication than others around you.? Their minds seem to work so slowly.? You wish they would catch up!

Your rapid pacing may stem from high energy, or a cultural background where everyone talks fast, or even from a constant state of nervousness.??

It may stem from beliefs you have picked up, such as a belief that:

You must work hard to prove yourself.? To quickly demonstrate your expertise so they will take you seriously.? A hope that if you quickly describe as many options as possible, something will pique their interest.? A fear that if you leave any dead air in the conversation, they will hang up.

Regardless of its origin, our pacing is sometimes unconscious until it is pointed out to us.

If you’re a Fast-Talker, with focus and effort, you can slow down.? But should you?? Does it matter???

After all, why should you put in the effort to change how you talk?? Let them adjust to you, right???

Hmmm… what about how your pacing affects your sales?

It’s important to understand the impact your pace has on prospects and clients.

When information is coming at you – and this goes for anyone – including fast-talking you, when information is coming at you faster than you can absorb, anxiety goes up.? You feel overwhelmed.? Now what do you do when you feel overwhelmed???

You shut down.?

?That’s right.? No matter the quality of the information, if it’s coming at you took quickly, you can’t absorb or make sense of it.??

So, while you are firing your best material at a prospective client, they are feeling anxious and stressed.? They may also feel stupid because they don’t get it, and then irritated with you for making them feel that way. ? And if you are doing all the talking, they will also feel ignored.

People make decisions based on how they feel, then justify their decision with logic.???

Anxious, stressed, stupid, irritated and ignored.???

If this is how you make them feel, you are not getting that sale.? So, your pacing has a huge impact on your sales results.

Here is some good news!? When you are fast-talking in a sales conversation, you are working way too hard, and you don’t need to work that hard!

Here’s how to turn this around:

Strategy #1 Talk Less

People will tell you what they want if you ask some good questions and force yourself to be silent and listen deeply as they answer.

Strategy #2 Talk Ridiculously Slow

This is tongue-in-cheek.? Put the phrase ‘ridiculously slow’ in your mind before you pick up the phone.? It sounds so silly that it will make you remember to gear down a couple speeds.

Strategy #3 Leave More Pauses

If you catch yourself talking fast, finish your thought and leave a big, silent pause.? This is critical.? Important things are happening in that pause.? You may feel odd or awkward, but something completely different is going on for your prospective client.

Your pause allowed their brain some time to track back over all the information you just delivered.? Next, they are thinking and feeling their way through it to determine if it’s a fit, and if they have questions.

These mental processes take time!? When you give them that time, their anxiety goes down and their comfort with you goes up.??

Strategy #4 Practice with a Coach

Changing your pace takes practice, but you can do it.? I have helped many clients master this and many other critical skills, build their confidence and of course, increase their sales.??

Feel free to book an Exploratory Chat with me.? We’ll get to know each other a bit and see if it makes sense to work together.

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