If you’ve made it this far with your prospects—and things have progressed according to plan—you now have them thinking about their needs, pains, problems, or desires. This is precisely where we want them so that we can present—in the most favorable light—how we would be able to help them.

But how do you know when you have arrived at that magic moment when it is finally time to talk about what you would do for them and make your recommendation? I can’t tell you exactly when that is. Every situation differs and depends on lots of variables—including what you sell, your objectives, and your prospect’s mind-set when your call arrived. Sometimes we get lucky and contact them when they are actively looking for what we sell, and it happens quickly. Other times, we never reach that point. However, I can describe the ideal time generally: It’s when you feel that you have sufficiently moved your prospects to the point where they will be receptive to hearing how you may be able to help.

In my own experience, I’ve faced both kinds of situations. There have been times when I’ve gone just a few short questions before recommending, and others when an entire hour went by before I told the prospect what I could do for them.

Regardless of when that point arrives for you, there is a suggested process for delivering your recommendation effectively.

Pitching Is for Sports Only: Recommend Instead

First, let’s talk about a term that is commonly associated with prospecting and sales: pitching.

I know a little bit about pitching. I’ve coached baseball and softball, called thousands of pitches, and worked with pitchers at a variety of levels. My own daughter was one of the top softball pitchers in the region, and I caught well over 30,000 of her practice pitches over eight years. When I watch a baseball game, I’m one of the geeks who studies how the pitchers throw to hitters in different situations. And while it’s been a number of years since I hung up the glove from competitive ball in an over-30 senior baseball league, I pitched some there as well.

Pitching is for sports, not sales. Just hearing the word pitch in a sales context makes me cringe, because pitching describes what amateurs and hard-sell, cheesy salespeople do. Pitching is one-way communication; it’s the seller telling his story.

Have you ever been called by a telemarketer who read a two-minute spiel without getting any feedback from you, and then told you they would charge your credit card? That was a pitch.

From like-minded sales types, I’ve heard pitches referred to as “puking out a presentation” or “spraying and praying.” It gives me visions of a listener rolling her eyes in boredom, looking at her watch, perhaps getting ready to slit her wrists with a letter opener.

A pitch focuses on the salesperson, not the prospect or customer.

Why the rant about the simple word pitch? Because words follow thoughts, and actions follow both. If people refer to what they do as pitching, they are talking, not Smart Calling. They are presenting what they want to say, which rarely matches the listener’s interest, and that is why objections occur. In fact, objections are created by pitches.

Instead, here’s a much better word: recommendation. I use that in place of presentation, since a presentation can be viewed as similar to a pitch.

To make a recommendation, we need information. And to get information, we first must question. The recommendation should be on-target and meet needs, since the prospects just told us what they need, want, or are otherwise interested in.

And that, my friend, is professional, collaborative Smart Calling.

People usually know when they’re being subjected to a pitch, and they often perceive it negatively. When people are about to hear a recommendation, they don’t feel they are being sold.

The Smart Call Recommendation Process

It’s not until late in the program during my seminars and workshops that I cover the part of the call that is usually the main section of lots of training: the presentation of benefits.

That’s because the best salespeople present only what the listener cares about—information that’s based on everything else in the call process to this point: preparation, information gathering, working with screeners, interest-creating openers, and questioning. The next phase is the sales recommendation (I like that word better than presentation). Here’s the next step in the process—to make when you feel you know exactly what it will take to fill your prospects’ needs, solve their problems, ease their pain, or give them something they desire.

1. Transition from Your Questioning. Let them know you’re done questioning, and spark interest—again—by having them listen to you:

   “Luke, based on what you told me about the existing insurance coverage on your business, and the added liability exposure you have, I believe I have something here that will cover you completely, at about the same premium you’re paying now.”

2. Paraphrase Your Understanding. Now you will simply rephrase the needs, concerns, desires, and values they just related to you in your questioning:

   “Let’s just review what we’ve discussed so far to make sure I understand it completely. Bottom line, you feel you’ve been neglected by your present agent, except when it came time to renew your policy. And you feel he’s charging you an outrageous premium for the amount of coverage you now need since you’re manufacturing toxic chemicals. Is that right?”

   Here are a few other phrases to preface your paraphrasing:

   • “So that I’m sure I understood what you said you’re looking for, let me summarize …”
   • “To be certain I’m thinking along the same lines as you are …”
   • “So I know we’re together on this, let me go over …”

3. Recommend the Results of What You Can Deliver as Well as the Next Step. Only talk about what they told you they’re interested in—period.

   “Luke, I assure you that with us you would have your own account rep and would get the attention you deserve. And you would like the coverage programs we have. First, we would [describe each benefit/result with proof of each claim] …”

   Make absolutely certain that you are presenting the results of your product or service, commonly known as benefits. Use phrases such as “What that means to you” and “Which means.” These phrases ensure that you’re covering topics that will cause them to take action. And since you are probably presenting several aspects of what you sell, get feedback after each one. This is commonly known as the trial close, where you get agreement on what you just said. For example:

   • “Would that work for you?”
   • “Sound good so far?”
   • “Is that something that would save you money?”

4. Get Commitment. You’re involved in a conversation at this point, either answering questions or listening to buying signals. We’ll cover a lot more on the commitment phase of the call in its own chapter, but it really is a seamless transition from the recommendation. The commitment entails asking for the prospect’s agreement on the next action—which could be a face-to-face meeting, an agreement that they will view your webinar or literature, the actual sale, or many other possibilities. For example:

   “Pat, based on everything we’ve discussed, you’d show a savings from day one on the program. It would make sense for us to get together and explore a few more details, and I could show you more options with it. Would Friday morning work for you?”

Use the Words of Others to Be More Persuasive

I probably have more books on sales, communication, self-motivation, and marketing than 99.9% of the population. I’ve got them on shelves, in boxes, and now, filling up my iPad. I admit, I’m a compulsive book buyer, and I realize there is so much more to learn. Anytime I read or hear about a book that will help me or my clients and customers, I immediately go to Amazon. They have been able to sell me a lot more than I had originally intended to buy by employing that cool technique of suggesting other books based on the one I look at or purchase. I always impulse-buy a few other titles because of this headline: “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought …”

This is brilliant from a sales and psychological perspective for two reasons that you, too, can use to make more sales.

Using the Principle of Consistency

I never met the late Tim Russert, but after spending many hours watching him on Meet the Press and other news and interview shows, I certainly felt as though I knew him well.

Part of Russert’s popularity stemmed from the fact that lots of regular people identified with him. He grew up in a blue-collar, Catholic, hardworking family and neighborhood, holding down several jobs throughout high school and college, and then competing for real-world jobs with more privileged people. I experienced the exact same things.

From a professional perspective, I always marveled at how Russert could take something seemingly complex and bring it to an understandable level. He’d get guests to answer a tough question, then pause, and spring a video on them, where they were shown maybe a few years prior, contradicting the answer they just had given. The senators or candidates would then squirm and have to defend why the things they claimed were not consistent. But of course, he never did it in an adversarial way.

The science of persuasion calls this phenomenon the principle of consistency. Cialdini says that most people desire to remain consistent to beliefs and commitments they have previously stated. You can use this as well on your Smart Calls.

We already worked on crafting and asking questions to prompt prospects and customers to tell you what they value, want, and need—all the things you provide, of course. For example, I might ask in my own case, “What is the main factor preventing your salespeople from selling at full price?”

If they answer, “A lack of confidence in asking for full price in a competitive environment because they do not know the right questions to ask to build value,” I would then ask how much money they felt they were leaving on the table.

After establishing a figure to dollarize the problem or pain, I would employ the principle of consistency in the following ways.

In the Sales Recommendation

I preface my explanation of benefits with what they had said, therefore framing my comments with their own words and putting them in a more receptive frame of mind to hear and agree with my recommendation.

“… and as you had mentioned earlier, you feel your reps need to be asking better questions to establish value, which in turn will give them more confidence to ask for and get full price. Here’s exactly how we would do that.”

After the recommendation, we want to move toward the ultimate commitment, the sale, appointment, or next step. Again, using their words makes them more likely to agree.

“Do you feel that would help your reps ask the right questions to build value? Would that help you to keep more of the profits you’re leaving on the table?”

You Are Absolutely Going to Love This

While listening to some recorded calls, I noticed a pattern with a sales rep. She tended to preface many of her statements with negatives such as “I have some bad news for you” and “Are you sitting down?” before she gave the price of an item. “You’re not going to like this” and “I hope you’re prepared for what I’m about to tell you” were a few others. Not surprisingly, she continually got negative responses and results.

When listeners hear comments like these, they brace themselves for negative news. Regardless of how you’re feeling and what you’re thinking prior to the comment, you are now prepared to hear something negative. People evaluate information based on the state of mind they’re in at the moment they receive it. While this particular sales rep’s approach provides a negative example of the principle of preconditioning, you can use it to your advantage.

First, be certain you’re not currently in the habit of negatively preconditioning your listeners. This is a habit with many people. Listen to your calls from the perspective of the prospect or customer. Thoroughly analyze your language to determine if you use conditioning phrases that frost listeners. If you do, catch yourself before you use them again. Then, get in the habit of establishing an atmosphere in which your listeners will positively view your information. And it’s not that difficult; in fact, you probably encounter it regularly when you see and hear an infomercial on television. How often have you heard something like:

• “Now, for a product like this that takes the place of all the cleaners in your cabinet, you’d probably expect to pay $40 or more, but no …”

You can do the same. For example:

• “Here’s the good news.”
• “Keeping in mind all of the ways this will save you money on your operational expenses, the price is low in comparison.”
• “And now I’d like to share with you what people say is the best part of the entire system.”
• “This is something you might even want to write down for future reference.”

There’s an old cliché that states, “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.” True, but let’s add to that. It’s also what you say before you say it!