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How This Four Word Phrase Helped Me Sell More Over the Phone

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Making sales over the phone is more of an art than a science. From developing rapport to sensing resistance, selling products or services over the phone takes a lot more skill. Over the past three years I have mastered this art form given that I have primarily sold our products and services to our marketplace of buyers over the phone.

In sales you have three aspects of communication. These are:

  1. Physiology (body language, hand gestures, facial expressions, etc.)
  2. Tonality (how you say the words)
  3. Words (what you say)

When selling on the phone, you are missing the aspect of physiology, which means you don’t have the ability to read one’s posture, body language, or facial expressions. Instead, you need to become a master at tonality and word selection. Let’s take a look at each of these aspects closer.

Tonality

Tonality is how you say the words you’re using. This constitutes as 37% of the communication between you and the other person or people. This includes: 

  • Tone – the pitch of your voice (for example, relaxed or stern)
  • Tempo – the speed at which you talk
  • Timbre – the quality of your voice (ie. gravelly or squeaky)
  • Volume – how loud or quiet you are

Words

Words are what is said in the communication between two or more people. The words in your communication only constitute 7% of communication, making the margins for error slim. 

Physiology

Physiology constitutes the remaining 56% of communication. This means that when you’re selling over the phone, the bulk of the information we regularly use to communicate is missing.

The Challenge for Most Sales People

Selling over the phone is not difficult, it is simply different from face to face sales. Here is where most sales people get it wrong: the attempt to make up for the missing piece of communication by overembellishing either their tonality, their words, or both. 

Usually what will happen is the salesperson will over do these pieces of the communication formula over the phone, causing the communication to be done poorly. This leads to the prospect losing interest, or getting offended. Either way, in the end the sale is not closed.

“When reps take the role of a curious student rather than an informed expert, buyers are much more inclined to engage.” – Jeff Hoffman

The Magic 4-Word Phrase and How We Use It To Close More Deals

“Does that make sense?” Yes, that’s the secret four words we use. Nothing fancy, no big words, just a short and sweet check in with the prospect on the other end of the phone. Like I mentioned earlier, the trick is not in the 4 words so much as how it is used while communicating on the phone.

Here is what I mean, these four words are ways to re-engage the prospect on the phone and allow them to ask questions regularly. This little question also allows the prospect to say yes to you multiple times before you ask for sale later in the conversation.

When and How To Use This Phrase While On The Phone With A Prospect

There is no clear cut answer for how often or when to use this phrase as everyone has different pitches or scripts for prospects. While building this phrase out for the sales word-tracks for our companies and for our sales people, we have noticed that adding this question in at least three times during the sales conversation yielded higher conversions and bottom line for all the companies.

When adding in this 4 word phrase to your sales script, make sure it is where it makes sense for the salesperson to take a break. We have found it great to use when you are about ready to make a change or pivot in the conversation as well so that the prospect can agree or disagree that they understand.

Many NLP studies have shown by getting the mind to commit to someone or something at least three times during a single conversation increases the odds of that person committing on the big offer or sale. In layman’s terms this means, the more the prospect says “yes” to you during the conversation, the easier the prospect feels about saying yes to you in the future.

What Happens If The Prospect Says “No”

If you are doing a good job of explaining and communicating with your customers during the sales call then we have seen that this does not happen often. However I would believe at some point it has happened to anyone who has done this. When that happens, all the “no” means is a clue that they are needing more information. Ask more questions to determine what else you need to communicate to help them understand.

“For every sale you miss because you’re too enthusiastic, you will miss a hundred because you’re not enthusiastic enough.” – Zig Ziglar

Implementing This Into Your Sales Script

By including this into our businesses with all of our sales staff and in our sales systems, we have seen a steady increase in conversions across the board of all of our companies and I am confident you will too. 

Formalize your sales script in someway to include this phrase. I don’t mean to write out every single word, I mean understand the order of items you want to discuss with your prospect(s) over the phone and then simply add in the phrase at certain points of that conversation.

At first, you’ll probably have to remind yourself. After you do this technique a couple times and gain competency and confidence about it, it will become second nature in your process and you will start seeing more sales close, and more money in your bank account.

Have you ever made a sale over the phone? If so, what was the most challenging part of it, and how did you overcome it? Share your stories and thoughts with us below!

Sidney Clevinger is a social media influencer, coach, and presenter that specializes in helping entrepreneurs and business owners leverage their social media so they grow their business following a specific and emotionless 3 Pillar Formula that includes lead generation, conversion and retention. Sidney works with clients and runs courses all over the world. He believes that everyone was put on this earth with a gift to share, and leveraging your social media to increase your influence is a great place to do that. Sidney has a range of valuable resources for people to understand how to leverage their social media and attract customers for their products on his YouTube channel, Facebook Page, or FREE Social Media Program, "Better Leads 7-Day Social Media Bootcamp."

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Change Your Mindset

5 Ways To Achieve Your Goals (With Examples)

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Setting goals is a crucial first step, whether you’re striving to reach personal or professional milestones. However, achieving those goals requires planning, determination, and focus. In this post, we’ll discuss five actionable strategies that can help you achieve your goals in 2023, and we’ll provide real-life examples to inspire and motivate you. By implementing these tips, you can train your brain to achieve your goals and make meaningful progress toward your aspirations.

1. Write Down Your Goals

The first thing needed to achieve a goal is to have one. A goal becomes very clear and precise once you have written it down most simply and easily to remember.

Here are some examples:

  • I am the world’s best dancer!
  • I am the greatest athlete!
  • I have created the world’s most innovative tech company!

They are all written with the belief that these things have already happened. Once you start believing it has already happened, other people too can sense your confidence and things start happening.

“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.” — Andrew Carnegie

2. The One Page Plan

A simple one-page plan to accompany your goal is much more powerful than a detailed 30-page plan. After you have written your clear goal – write down all the things you will have to do to achieve it. Make it as simple and direct as possible so that you can refer to it every day and take action. A simple plan is easier to follow and keep up with.

3. Get The Right Skills

Once you have a clear goal that has been inked into your mind, and a clear plan in place, it is very important to invest in the skills you need to achieve your goal.

So for example, if you want to become a movie star, you should immediately start developing your acting skills. Observe how other actors perform, join an acting class, read about acting, and most importantly, start honing your craft by joining a local theatre group and going for as many auditions as you can. Practice is very important for mastering any skill.

Struggling To Achieve Your Goals? Here Are 9 Possible Reasons Why! 

4. Surround Yourself With The Best People

The best way to achieve our goals is to make sure we have the best people supporting us. People who succeed are always those who understand the power of people.

So let’s say your goal is to be an entrepreneur and you have developed your entrepreneurial skills, the next step would be to get the best people to join your team to help you achieve your goal. These would be people who you consider to be the best marketers capable of getting you the best customers and investors.

Once you have the best people supporting you, it becomes much easier and faster to achieve your goals.

“It takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people’s lives.” – Clint Eastwood

5. Power of Faith

Nothing beats the power of faith and belief. Sometimes you might face challenges, sometimes things might not be going your way, and you might feel like giving up – these are the times when faith and belief will keep you going.

So many people give up, just a few inches away from victory. I am sure you are not one of them since you are investing time into self-development which gives the highest returns! Now go out there and start achieving your goals!

Need more motivation? Read our blogs on motivation and become your best self now!

 
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Change Your Mindset

This Concept Will Make You Happier and More Productive

While humans can’t expect to describe themselves as “always” happy, we sure as heck shouldn’t settle for “never” happy or even “seldom” happy

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It’s always tempting to answer one more email before bed or to reply to one more text from a friend during work. Nonetheless, numerous studies have shown that multitasking, which is actually just constant task-switching, is exhausting. As the American Psychological Association states in an article about multitasking: “Psychologists who study what happens to cognition (mental processes) when people try to perform more than one task at a time have found that the mind and brain were not designed for heavy-duty multitasking.” (more…)

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Change Your Mindset

Debunking 21 of the Most Common Leadership Myths

It has been proved beyond doubt that leaders are made rather than born

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Do you think leaders should be tall and handsome?  Do you opine leaders must know everything? Do you think leaders must have a magic wand? Do you think women cannot make good leaders? Do you think leaders should be intelligent with a strong academic background? (more…)

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Change Your Mindset

There’s Only One Thing You Need for Success

The willingness to ask and live and love and overcome and learn and grow and so many other things all stem from one thing. 

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I know, the catchy title has you rolling your eyes and saying to yourself obviously there’s not only one thing that leads to success, but hear me out. (more…)

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