CHRISISM #74 - Smile Down The Phone

11 September 2018

How often do you fail to get the result you are seeking when making a phone call and, if it’s more than just occasionally, have you asked yourself what the most common reason for this may be?

Most business owners would agree that the hardest part of any business is prospecting for new clients and even in the modern world of all sorts of alternative modes of communication such as texting or emailing, the large majority of first appointments with prospective new clients are still made over the phone.

So how important is it that we understand what the single biggest determinant of the outcome of any prospecting call is? I would say pretty important – and the reality is that the single biggest determinant of the outcome of any prospecting call will be your mindset when making the call.

For this reason, one of the most important rules for prospecting is:- never pick up the phone to make a prospecting call if you are not in the right frame of mind, and your thought process when dialling the number should be “Obviously this person is going to want to want to meet with me – it’s just a case of arranging a time!” as opposed to “I bet this person is going to give me all sorts of uphill, but I’m going to make the call anyway”.

As you will gather from the above, the variable in this scenario is YOU not the person at the other end of the phone, and if you are not in the right frame of mind when dialling the numbers, then put down the phone and go and do whatever it takes to put you in the right frame of mind.

When prospecting – or making any business call for that matter, you must be smiling genuinely down the phone, which means you must be in a positive frame of mind rather than smiling through gritted teeth!

For those of you who remain sceptical about the importance of your mindset when calling prospects or clients and the need for you to be smiling down the phone, I want to take you outside  the business context and into a social context.

I want you to think of the last time you had to call someone and ask for a favour. This could be a relative, a partner, a friend, a bank manager (!), or anyone else for that matter. When the other person answers the phone and extends their greeting to you, within a couple of seconds I guarantee one of two thoughts will go through your head:- either “ Oh, good timing – they sound in a good mood” or “ Oh dear, not good timing – they sound in a bad mood” – and what would this perception be based on? Answer:- their voice tonality. When speaking to someone on the phone, how you are coming across to someone i.e. your voice tonality is five or six times as important as what you are actually saying.

So remember – every time you open your mouth on the phone you are sending VIBES down the phone and there is no such thing as a neutral vibe – there are only positive vibes (warm fuzzies) or negative vibes (cold pricklies), and which of the two vibes you are emitting will be totally dependent on your mindset.       

The Risk Workshop by Chris Unwin

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