Airplanes need lots of runway to come to a stop. There’s a lot of energy and power associated with dropping out of the sky, and it needs to dissipate. That’s why runways are usually more than two miles long.

Clients also come with a great deal of energy and power. Our clients aren’t always happy people. After all, life isn’t exactly working out as planned. They’ve got problems, and they’ve come to us for help.

They need runway to dissipate all of that energy. Give it to them.

When they call, wound up and full of energy, get out of their way. Give them runway. Stop talking and let them go. Give them the full two miles and maybe more. Let them talk and talk.

Stop, stop, stop! Don’t interrupt.

Don’t add value; don’t give advice. Just let them go and go and go.

If you’re going to say anything, say “ah,” “oh,” or “that must have been awful.”

I know it’s hard for us to keep our mouths shut; we’re challenged in that way. But we can do it if we try.

Back in the day, I’d play Solitaire on the computer while they talked. Now you can play Facebook games. Or, even better, you can reorganize your task list for tomorrow. Or, better than that, you can focus fully on what the client is saying. You can listen. Sometimes I wonder whether listening—fully listening with my full brain—feels even better to the client. It’s hard to judge.

Clients who have been given their chance to let it out—to speed down the runway—feel better, and they associate that feeling with you. They’ll behave better when it comes time to negotiate the deal. They’ll trust you more when you need to push them a bit.

Give them runway and let them talk. It’s just a natural part of working through this process, and it’s a big part of what we do for them as professionals.