Six Ways to Improve Sales with Small Talk

I believe the trick to small talk is: THERE IS NO TRICK!

Hon­esty and speak­ing from your heart is the best thing you can do. Look at the per­son across from you as a close friend. Take down the bar­ri­ers and you will succeed.

Here are six ideas to improve your small talk in a sales scenario:

1. Best top­ics of light con­ver­sa­tions? You can always open the con­ver­sa­tion with some­thing in their office. Or if you like what they are wear­ing — com­ment on it. Or look at their web­site ahead of time and note some­thing you found out about them or their industry.

2. Most effec­tive open­ing lines? “The arti­cle on your web­site about _______ dis­cussed _____________. I found this fas­ci­nat­ing. Can you tell me more about that? This line takes you past small talk and into hav­ing them speak next — fol­low the 80/20 rule. You speak 20% of the time and they speak 80%.

3. Most effec­tive exit­ing lines? Always set the next appoint­ment or action to be taken — this is your clos­ing line. If not a good lead, then ask for a refer­ral and if pos­si­ble get them to call the per­son right then.

4. How to come off sin­cere? Be sin­cere — don’t fake sin­cer­ity. If you are hav­ing dif­fi­culty — remain calm and treat them like a friend — a confidant.

5. How to fight the awk­ward­ness? Neg­a­tive self-talk is the biggest issue here. Before you go into the meet­ing, do your home­work. The more you know about your prospect the fewer awk­ward moments.

6. The impor­tance of suc­cess­ful small talk? Small talk must be rel­e­vant. Find com­mon grounds to talk about and lead the con­ver­sa­tion to ensure you obtain the end result you want. No talk is small talk. The more you find out about your prospect, the more infor­ma­tion you will have for future conversations.

Look at my new book ENTREPRENEUR YOU for more tips on sell­ing and net­work­ing. You will be sur­prised how easy it can be.
 

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