Customers Don't Buy From Reps Who TALK. They Buy From Ones Who LISTEN.

I used to think the way to win was to overcome every single objection a customer could EVER have.

I remember walking into a meeting with a hospital team I had been trying to break into for months. This felt like my shot, and I wasn’t going to waste it. I had prepared everything — slides, product details, data points, even answers to questions they hadn’t asked yet.

As soon as we sat down, I took control of the conversation. I walked them through our product. I explained our differentiators. I covered every objection I had ever heard from customers, and even that some my product and marketing team had warned me about. I wanted them to know that I knew my stuff.

When I finished, I remember thinking, “That went really well”. They thanked me for my time and I walked out, head held high.

A few weeks later, I found out they had moved forward with another vendor. At the time, I was very confused, but later I realized why I lost that deal. I talked too much. WAY too much. Customers don’t want the most polished, most knowledgeable reps. They want the ones who are interesting in THEM, not in hearing themselves talk.

Later in my career, I completely changed my approach. I still prepared. I still knew my product. But I stopped trying to prove it in the first five minutes. I asked more questions. I let there be silence. I paid attention to what they were actually saying instead of thinking about what I was going to say next.

Because the truth is, customers aren’t sitting there wondering how smart you are. They’re wondering if you understand them.

What are your thoughts? Share with me in the comments!

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