“Telling Tension” is the compelling desire each of us has to talk before we are ready to listen. It occurs whenever we feel strong emotions – the stronger the emotion, the more compelling the desire to express ourselves.

Your willingness to learn how to manage “Telling Tension” can have a positive impact on your sales career, and it can reduce your stress as well.

Let’s look at the causes and symptoms of Telling Tension, and then learn how you can manage it to increase the number of sales you make. Five causes are encountered frequently during sales interviews: anger, defensiveness, enthusiasm, prospect questions, and silence. Let’s look at each individually to see how it might occur.

When someone says something that makes you angry, you feel compelled to cut him off and express your feelings. Anger often reduces receptivity to zero.

Another cause of telling tension is the defensiveness we feel when buyers raise objections to our products. Since we are proud of the products we sell, we may feel we can’t let an objection go unchallenged. In answering the objection, we are likely to try to overcome it by talking louder and faster. The prospect expressing an objection has a high Telling Tension of his own, and is not receptive to what we are trying to say.

Enthusiasm for important ideas is the third major cause. Too much enthusiasm often causes a salesperson to miss the buyer’s potential needs. If the salesperson happens to present something of interest to the buyer, enthusiasm will drive up the buyer’s Telling Tension quickly. The sales-person’s enthusiasm and desire to continue talking conflicts with the buyer’s. The clash of Telling Tensions can have a chilling effect on the sales interview.

The fourth cause, buyer’s questions, can be doubly dangerous to your sale. Just try sitting quietly after someone has asked you a question. Your Telling Tension increases and you begin talking without thinking.

However, thought is essential, because most questions have hidden meaning. They are loaded questions. Take the time to look at them from every possible aspect.

Finally, any extended period of silence is certain to drive up your desire to talk. When you ask a closing question and the buyer remains silent as she considers it, you may feel compelled to say something. Don’t do it! If you break the silence, you are likely to lose the sale.