Safe Phone Sales

Smile – the person on the phone is watching

I was asked if there was any data to support the common advice for phone sales people to smile while they are talking. I have seen telesales people put mirrors on their desks, to check themselves as they speak. It seems the rule is you sound as happy (or sad) as you look – and another person on the phone can “hear” your emotions. Think of saying “Happy Birthday!” with a frown.

The best data I have is from Mehrabian and his "7%-38%-55% Rule" which states that, in situations where your communication contains ambiguity (when your words do not match your expressions, for instance, or, when the receiver does not see and hear you, as on the phone) a message is weighted and interpreted using words (7% of meaning)-Tone of voice(38%)- Gestures(55%).

In phone or web presentations, when gestures are eliminated from the equation, the significance of words increases to 13%. Tone of Voice picks up the reminder 87% of the message.

So the assumption is: if you are smiling when you speak, the audience will "hear" that gesture in your tone of voice. The research tells us that tone and gestures are more important than the words you use, when the audience cannot see your gestures or facial expressions, or your delivery is incongruent and you seem to saying one thing but tone and gestures are saying something else.

Mehrabian’s research is applicable to communicating emotions. Data communication may be different, and there is a debate whether Mehrabian's research applies to "non-emotional" communication.

I suggest that all communication is emotional. The audience is looking to the speaker when they evaluate whether to accept the data or not. If the presenter sounds skeptical, even the most solid data will be suspect. Likewise, if the speaker is congruent in their words, tone and gestures, even the most suspect data will more likely be accepted (global warming, anyone?)

It becomes more likely that the receiver will trust the predominant form of communication, which to Mehrabian's findings is non-verbal (38 + 55 %), rather than the literal meaning of the words (7 %).

Why would I believe you, and do what you are asking, if I infer that you are not being honest or forthright – if your Intent is suspect?

I win,You win,We all win

When I ask participants in my training sessions about the goal of their presentation or sales call, I am often told "They just need to know this..." The presenter or sales rep has been told to deliver the message. This is never the right goal.

This is transactional, task-based activity. It is self-centered versus customer-centered. I suspect we all would admit it given some time. But sometimes not. In my experience, sales reps have been held to a daily call average. More calls is good. Fewer sales calls is bad. A sales manger explained this way: "You may have grown the business, but who knows how many more sales we might have had with even more sales calls?"

Well, marketing should know. This exposes an almost fanatical product orientation. Marketing is following the "better mouse trap" strategy. If you build it, they will come. They only need sales to get the word out and keep customer problems off their marketing and product manager desks.

Every customer interaction must have a benefit for the customer, with a call to action. What can the customer do with this information? If the answer is "nothing", then why are you telling them? Always have a call to action, tied to the payoff, for your customer and audience. Always. Otherwise you are wasting their time.

Is it ever OK not to have a SMART call to action? I used to say no. Further thought leads me to think there might be another reason for a meeting or sales call besides advocating a solution. That other reason is creating a relationship.

Opportunities to demonstrate your knowledge and to improve your understanding of the customers situation are good reasons to ask for your customers time and attention. But you still need to know what is in it for them. This is the hard part - proving your value to a customer while still establishing their trust in you.

Do this by creating expectations and stating your intent to use this information to provide better solutions. Give some examples of how you can help, based on what they tell you. Remember to follow up on these expectations with performance, when you are ready.

So next time I am told "they just need to know this", my response will be, pick one:

1. they will either use this information to do something better or different, or
2. you will use this opportunity to increase their interest in working with you...

Just delivering the message is not an option.