If You Want to Close More Business, Learn How to Small Talk.

How do you kick off a conversation with your B2B clients? The first thing that might come to mind is talking about the weather, sports or what you did this past weekend. Well, not so fast. The Academy of Management Journal reported on a study conducted with 151 workers that proved that small talk can be enriching, while a similar study found that genuine B2B small talk developed rapport and a better outcome when it comes to negotiations. If you want to close more business, learn how to small talk. Let’s take a look at what value small talk can bring to industrial sales and marketing.

Small Talk Instigates Curiosity

Have you ever experienced a conversation where the person was so interesting that you couldn’t help but ask more questions? It’s really no different when it comes to an industrial sales call whether it be on the phone or in person.

A perfect opening line for small talk on the sales call is, “Tell me what’s going on in your (facility/office/operation)?” Now as the operations manager answers the question, pick out an area or two that makes you wonder. Why did that happen? Why was the decision made in that way? How did the problem get to mature? How long has it been going on and why? These are great curiosity questions to get you started. Believe it or not, this is small talk. Be sure to look curious too! If you can combine both questions and the look of curiosity, the prospect will divulge more valuable information!

If you want to close more business, learn how to small talk. Curiosity is the perfect start.

Active Listening

Active listening is where you pay close attention to what your conversational partner is saying. If you marry your curiosity with active listening, you have a winning combination. This is when you ask a question and look at the person speaking directly. Sometimes it is tough to do, but try to look at the person in the eye. This will show that you are curious and listening intently to what they have to say. The manufacturing industry is not most glamorous occupation. So if you can be interested in what the industrial professional has to say, you’ll make big strides in closing the business.

Related: The Art of Active Listening: Uncovering Your Customer's True Needs

Non-Judgmental Disposition

As we know industrial accidents happen all the time. So does poor workmanship, negligent employees, and the list can go on indefinitely. When an industrial prospect is sharing an experience, the last thing you want to do is show with expressions or words that what they did was wrong. Having a non-judgmental disposition can go a long way. To build a solid rapport with the industrial prospect is to show compassion and understanding by saying, “Yup, I get it.” “I’m so sorry, please tell me the rest of the situation.”

Respect for Boundaries

Another great way to add rapport is to respect the your prospect’s boundaries. All you need to do is read the cues. First, don’t take it personally. You’re there to build rapport with the industrial prospect, and respecting their boundaries is part of building the relationship. If the operations manager doesn’t want to talk about it in detail, that tells you a lot without saying the details. If the operations manager says, “Let’s just say…” again, the operations manager is asking you to respect the boundaries and don’t ask any more detailed questions. You can make some assumptions.

Be Positive!

How can you be positive after all that you heard? Well, that’s your job. You are there to fix the problem, so be positive in your response. Industrial professionals experience intense problems each day. When you stay positive, you’re allowing the operations manager to have hope that you can fix the problem with your product(s) and services.

What to Do Next?

Now that you have the tools to be curious, a great listener, non-judgmental, boundary respecter and positive what do you do next? Now let’s put it to work. Start by using Industrial SalesLeads’ Industrial Construction: Upcoming Capital Projects. These are sales leads that are identified projects within the organization. This will help you to quickly contact the project owner and begin developing the rapport that you will need in order to bring the project forward to close. So, if you want to close more business, learn how to small talk.