The last thing your buyers need is more data and detail dumped on their over-tasked and over-scheduled brains, desks, or hard drives.

Much of our value in the selling profession used to be the depth and volume of information we had to share with our prospects. No more…now there is TOO much information for buyers to access and sift through. And too much information slows down decision making!

Our real value now is in deciphering the data and details to make it easy for buyers to see why our solution is important for them. To help the buyer pause long enough to acknowledge how our solution will address a problem, opportunity, want, or need specifically for them.

This means that our real expertise is not in sharing everything we know, it’s “right sizing” the information to what they need to know.

To right size the data and detail information, we need to:
• Ask relevant questions to identify what they already know, what they’ve done, what they need done, what their risks and rewards are, and how open they are to us helping them.
• Listen to the words they share and the emotions and context of what they communicate with their tone and body language.
• Flex what and how we share information. We need to be prepared with a lot of information and during the conversation adjust the amount, type, and level of information we give them—they may not need 8 data points; 3 may be enough if they are relevant and address their priorities.
• Connect the data and details into what it means for them. Link the information specifically to why it is important to them. Use stories, analogies, and pictures when possible to make it come alive.

I’m not going to sugar coat this: right sizing information in the midst of a conversation is TOUGH. It’s much tougher than explaining all that we think they need to know.

If the data and details shared are relevant, focused, and connected to them, you don’t have to dump all you know. Less can be more.

Your turn! What are some ways you have ‘right sized’ the type and amount of information you share to educate your prospects? Leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Conversations That Sell.