Just shut up!!

I wanna talk about my favorite sales skill turned everyday life skill. 

Seriously this skill is so massively underrated. The smartest people don’t know it, and even the dumbest people look like geniuses when they use it. 

It’s so simple, but if you master this one skill you will be ahead of 99% of people in most boardrooms. 

You ready? 

The skill is: 

Shut up. 

Seriously. Shut the hell up. 

I’m speaking directly to you, because you need to hear this: 

Shut. Your. Pie Hole. 

It’s so simple. 

But truly, almost NOBODY can do this. 

I sat In a sales call one time with a guy who could not shut up. 

Over and over again he did something like this:

“So tell me about the kind of data quality you require. BECAUSE MOST OF OUR CUSTOMERS blah blah blah.”

It was infuriating. 

He spent an hour expounding the brilliance of our product, and when we got outside I turned on him. “Did you find out when they wanna make the move?”

No. 

“Did you find out if we’re in their budget range?”

No. 

“Did you find out anything about why they want this, or what it’s gonna change about their business?”

No.

So needless to say we did not get called back for a second round. 

The BEST sales people in the world know that letting someone speak is the easiest and fastest way to make them fall in love with you.

It’s also the cheapest way to learn something.

Bad sales people pitch their product. Great sales people ask a question—and then shut up! 

Here’s a great exercise. Record your next sales call and then listen back to it. Identify every moment in the call when you SHOULD have shut up. 

I promise, once you realize how bad you are at shutting up, and all the opportunities you’re missing by talk, talk, talking—shutting up will become your new favorite thing as well. 

OK. I’ll shut up now.