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SKILL


Pacing to Improve Sales Performance Four Ways to Close Your Customer JERRY RICHARDSON


Pacing may be the secret weapon of all sales. It allows salespeople to get in step with a client in a way that says, “You can trust me. I’m on your side. I like you.”


A key objective of this technique is to so closely match the person you’re dealing with that the distinc- tion between your thoughts and their thoughts becomes blurred – enabling you to lead them to see your point of view. When you’re in step with a cli- ent, the next step you take is likely to be followed.


PACING YOUR SPEECH The pacing of speech strongly influ- ences the depth of rapport you estab- lish with a prospect. Serious problems can occur because of a failure to take into account dif- ferences in speaking rates. Have you ever heard someone from New York City try to do business with someone, for example, from Mobile, Alabama? The New Yorker – talking rapidly and vibrating with frenetic intensity – is try-


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ing to close the deal to take the next flight to the Big Apple. The relaxed Southerner is wondering what’s wrong with this strange creature. One wishes the other would get on with it; the other would like to slow down and think things over. Each may have good ideas, but they aren’t communicating. There isn’t enough mutual trust to complete their transaction. By changing this one aspect of his behavior, one salesperson we know dramatically increased the subscrip- tions to the answering service he owns. After studying pacing tech- niques, he began to match the rate of speech of those who phoned for information. Because his only contact with prospective clients amounted to one or two calls, he had to make each conversation count. If the customer spoke rather quickly, the salesperson


spoke rather quickly; if slowly, then the salesperson spoke slowly. This one simple change, he reported, resulted in a 30 percent increase in subscriptions.


Other than speed, speech has other dimensions you can pace to put your- self in a groove with your prospects. Volume is one. Someone who speaks softly appreciates someone else who speaks softly, and vice versa. Also, when you’re talking with clients (or with anyone, for that mat- ter), incorporate as many of their words, phrases, and images into your conversation as you comfortably can. Not that you want to mimic them or become some sort of mirror of them, but this method of pacing the talk of the person with whom you’re dealing goes far toward putting the two of you onto the same wavelength. On the other hand, unless your client is also in your industry, avoid us- ing the jargon of your trade – it might confuse the prospect.


REMAINING FLEXIBLE A key part of the fine art of sales psy- chology is having a personality that is


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