Trending
There is a particular kind of silence that follows a first sales conversation, and it carries information worth attending to.
Not the silence of a prospect who is genuinely deliberating, who is taking time to consider something they are seriously weighing. That silence has a quality of movement to it, even if nothing is said.
This is a different silence. The kind where the follow-up goes unanswered. Where the voicemail receives a brief, apologetic text. Where the prospect who seemed genuinely interested has, without explanation, simply gone quiet.
This silence is not usually about something that happened after the conversation.
It is almost always about something that happened during it.
Not a mistake, not an error of judgment, not anything dramatic. Usually something much quieter: the conversation did not quite reach the level where the prospect felt ready to make a decision, and rather than say so directly, they withdrew.
Withdrawal is what happens when a prospect senses that the conversation was not quite safe enough for the honest answer.
When they feel that saying "I am not sure yet" or "something still feels unresolved" would be uncomfortable, that it would require managing the advisor's reaction or extending a conversation they are not sure how to continue, they choose the path of least friction.
They go quiet.
The silence is not rejection. It is the residue of a conversation that did not quite create the conditions for honesty.
And the conditions for honesty are created in a very specific way: when the prospect senses, from the very beginning of the conversation, that any answer is welcome. That uncertainty is not a problem to be solved. That "I'm not ready" is as valid a response as "I'm in."
This requires a quality of non-attachment that runs through the entire sales conversation.
Not performed non-attachment, the professionally delivered reassurance that there is no pressure. The genuine kind, where the quality of the conversation is entirely independent of where it ends up.
When that quality is present, prospects do not go quiet.
They say what is actually true: that they need more time, or that something felt unresolved, or that the timing is not right. And those honest answers, offered in a conversation that was safe enough to hold them, are infinitely more useful than silence.
They are the beginning of a real conversation about what is actually in the way.
The silence that follows a sales conversation is always saying something.
The question worth asking, when it arrives, is not how to break it.
It is what the conversation that produced it made possible, and what it did not.
Related: Why Non-Attachment Is the Most Underrated Skill in Financial Advisory Sales
Ari Galper is the world’s number one authority on trust-based selling and is the most sought-after high-net worth/lead generation expert for financial advisors. His newest book, “Trust In A Split Second” has become an instant best-seller among financial advisors worldwide – you can get a Free copy of Ari’s book here and, when you click the “YES” button in the order form, you’ll also receive a complimentary “plug up the holes” lead generation consultation. Ari has been featured in CEO Magazine, Forbes, INC Magazine and the Financial Review. He is considered a contrarian in the financial services industry and in his book, everything you learned about selling will be turned upside down. No more chasing, no pressure, no closing.