Kosta_Konfucius

Sales Rep

Should We Be Talking More In Meetings?

I have always tried to be a better listener and try to listen more than I speak, especially in sales meetings. Also, I know people tend to like the conversation more if they talk more. So I am always quick to shut up and listen in a sales meeting.

However, A study from Gong that analyzed 30,000 sales calls debunked this myth, showing that the ideal ratio of speaking to listening is 43:57. Which is pretty much even

When looking at you past meetings, do you think it will be more helpful talking and providing more insights compared to listening?

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15 comments

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Fuck Gong

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

YEAH!

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Yep

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

First off, listen to the group, slow down on "talking" or "posting so much"

Now that is out of the way. I suggest it being more like 40/60. especially through discovery. When it comes to the actual presentation/demo piece, I think it gets closer to 50/50.

When I do talk, storytelling is the way to go as people think in pictures and relate through stories the best. Verbally paint the best or worst possible scenarios and then let them talk.

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

Somehow this theory fits in my head - The more you talk, the less you discover about what exactly you need to work on.
And again, there's no set formula. Sometimes talking a lot helped me sail through the meeting. Sometimes not talking so much, did.

So gauging the room might help!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Totally agree. Metrics can only tell you so much. The beauty of being a human is that we are able to assess a situation and respond and not worry about what a report is telling us to do. Every group is different, and that same group will react differently each time you meet them. Being able to read the room and communicate effectively is a good skill to have.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

This runs counter to everything I've ever read.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Yeah it goes against what most sales people are told, but its actually 50/50 apparently according to this one study

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

I wonder if anyone has done a meta analysis of all these studies to give us a more definitive answer.

50/50 is probably more realistic than 70/30 though

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

So many variables like type of meeting, disco/demo/proposal walk through all would have different ideal ratios

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

So true. Complexity of sale/product as well

Telehealth_2the_Moon

Notable Contributor

Director of Business Development

I think it's very much situation dependent. Sometimes people are looking to sit back and be presented to, but most of the time there should be good back and forth.

That being said, when you are talking are you telling the prospect how great you, your company, and your product is OR are you talking about THEM. What problems they have, how you might help, and how they can expect to measure impact from services.

Too many people take the idea of "pitching" something too literally, you need to diagnose before you treat.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

i mean....it always depends.
it depends on what type of meeting if happening, it depends on how many ppl are in the meeting, and who they are.
if they are asking you great questions that require long explanations then GOOD.

if you are asking solid questions that get them to give YOU long answers? GOOD.

just make sure you know what the goal is of each meeting

DevSomeBiz

Valued Contributor

Senior B2B Sales Guy.

43/57 is really just 50/50, with some time for you to kick the meeting off and wrap the meeting up. Sounds about right.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

The 2 ears - 1 mouth listening to speaking ratio seems to work for me in most cases.

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Kosta_Konfucius

Should We Be Talking More In Meetings?

15 comments

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