The Most Overbearing Sentence In Sales Speech: I Don'T Know!

The most important word in sales.

It's hard to say. It's worth practicing, according to a new study from the Management School of Boston University, especially if you work in the sales industry.

Barbara and the 3 School of management, Boston University, aim at measuring the reliability of salesmen and the possibility of consumers buying from them.

They found that for a salesperson, when a client asked a question that puzzled them, answering "I didn't know" did not make their credibility drop.

And for those who commissions business in the form of commission.

The worst case of commission salesperson is expected.

In the first survey, the researchers asked 37 people to read a story describing a new employee who asked for information from a financial adviser about the company sponsoring their 401 (k) fund.

In this story, the employee asked whether financial advisors would affect their contribution to their IRA if they signed 401 (k).

The financial adviser did not know the answer to this question.

If the salesperson is selling by Commission, 75% of the respondents expect the salesperson to talk nonsense and try to cover up the fact that he or she does not know the answer.

If a salesperson is a contract employee without financial incentives, only 38% of the respondents expect the salesperson to carry out the problem.

"I don't know" generates trust.

In the second survey, the researchers provided three responses to 225 respondents: a "I don't know", an irrelevant answer, and the correct answer.

If it's a commission salesperson, admit ignorance can persuade people to buy products.

Respondents to the survey said they would be more likely to buy products if they got the answer "I don't know", rather than the salesperson taking a roundabout way.

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If a salesperson does not take a commission, what he says is not important.

If the salesperson does not take Commission, no matter what answer the salesperson adopts, the respondents will have the same desire to buy.

Beating around the Bush, bragging: Trading killer

In the third test, the same story was adopted.

However, 134 respondents were asked to give their views on the sales staff.

Beating around the Bush has become a trading killer for commission salesmen.

Respondents thought such salesmen were unreliable and said they were unlikely to buy products.

What conclusion did you get?

It is better to admit ignorance than to try to flicker them, especially when consumers or customers know that you are selling in the form of a commission.

Admit ignorance makes you seem more trustworthy, and more reliable in customer's mind, not less reliable.

The professors speculate that salesmen, who do not know the reliability of their answers, will be able to make up for the reliability he or she acknowledges their ignorance.

In other words, they wrote, "dumb but honest" is "smart, but cunning".

When someone can't or can't answer a straightforward question, what's your reaction? Will you feel comfortable when you say "I don't know"? Do you think "I don't know" will help you and your client or your boss?