Phone Skill Secrets

Here’s the Step-by-Step process on improving your Telephone Selling Skills:

1. Print the page of predicates (don’t be too concerned with Predicate Phrases at this stage).
2. Draw a coloured line down the centre of the page so Visual and Auditory are to the left of the centre line, and Kinesthetic and Unspecified (Auditory Digital) are to the right.
3. Stick this Predicate Table where visible near your phone.
4. Call a friend. When they answer listen to the tempo of their voice. If it seems to be up, look to the left of the page, if they’re talking fairly slowly then focus on the predicates on the right.Remember, in the words of Neil Diamond, “Some days are diamonds, some days are stones…” Your friend may not be using the modality you predicted before calling them. People may switch from their preferred Representational System because of a change in context or circumstances.
5. Once you’ve ascertained which modality they prefer at the moment, start to use some of the predicates of that modality, in addition to the appropriate tonality (Visual – up, Auditory – middle, Kinesthetic – down).For example, let’s say your friend talks quickly with a higher pitched voice and several times you’ve heard them say, “Do you see what I mean?” From this interaction you could safely predict that at the moment they are visually inclined. So you would increase the tempo and pitch while saying to them something like (depending upon the context) “I can only begin to imagine what that looks like! Are they starting to see your point of view?”
6. Now you would use that little known technique I promised on an earlier post. In addition to mirroring and matching your friends’ predicates and tonalities you should also adopt the appropriate physiology. For your Visual friend you would sit erect, have your head up, and breath high in your chest.This may seem pointless when your friend can’t see you when talking on the telephone, but doing so will put you in a Visual State, making your communication more congruent. You’ll more than likely suddenly discover a deep connection with friend. Quite possibly a connection that is stronger than you’ve ever had before. This should take away any concerns you may have had about thinking you are being manipulative.
7. To enhance your confidence try deliberately slowing the tempo down and making the pitch more melodic. If you have a strong connection, your friend will more than likely come with you. They will start to slow down and reduce their pitch. This could be very useful if you want them to truly hear what you are saying.This is referred to as pacing and leading which occurs naturally when people are in rapport. Watch what happens when a group of friends are sitting in a room together and one starts to yawn. Next thing everyone else in the room starts complaining, “Stop yawning! You’re making me yawn!”
8. Once you’ve had some experience at using the technology with friends start doing the same with some of your clients. Remember, there is no such thing as failure – there is only feedback. And above all, be sure to…

Have fun!

The beauty of this system is that suddenly your focus moves away from things like ‘call reluctance’ and an obsession with the right content, to a fascination about how people process information. You’ll really start to see their point of view, hear what they’ve got to say, get in touch with their feelings, and understanding the difference between infuriating and influencing!

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