#66: Do This One Thing To Keep Prospects Engaged

#66: Do This One Thing To Keep Prospects Engaged

Read Time: 4 min

Today I’m going to discuss one of the most overlooked parts of selling. Very few people ever focus on this. If you get this piece dialed in, it will have a huge lift in your ability to close.

What am I talking about?

Tonality and voice fluctuation.

Why is this important?

 Because people buy excitement, they buy enthusiasm, they buy conviction. This is all conveyed in the tone of your voice.

 The problem I often see is the founders pitch in a monotone voice with very little excitement or voice fluctuation. This is wrong and hurts your sales. A prospect perceives this as a lack of conviction in your product. Why? Emotions add depth and resonance to your communication, making it more impactful.

 Today I’ll show you how to execute this correctly.

I've learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

~ Maya Angelou

There are 3 areas you need to understand in order to execute here.

1. Tone

2. Pitch

3. Language

Let’s take a look!

Tone

Your tone conveys meaning and conviction to your message. It greatly impacts your ability to influence and persuade during the sales process. Tone plays a crucial role in establishing credibility, building rapport, and capturing the attention of the prospect.

When your tone matches the intention behind your words, it creates a sense of authenticity and trustworthiness, making your message more persuasive and compelling.

I’ve always found that prospects will judge your engagement and the opportunity you’re offering based on the conviction in your voice.

When you pitch in a monotonous tone, it can be misconstrued as you not being into what you’re offering and come across as a real lack of insincerity in the product. Conversely, an expressive tone conveys excitement and enthusiasm for the prospect. It carries emotion. Enthusiasm is infectious. When the prospects feel it, they believe in the validity and authenticity of your product. And that’s what sells.

When I was a stockbroker, I can't tell you how many times I opened accounts on a 100-share trade, only to have the prospect ask me after agreeing to buy, "What is the name of the stock we're buying again?”

It’s wild, but it was a testament to them buying me and my conviction in what I was selling.

Pitch

When I speak about pitch, I’m referring to the rise and fall (emotion) of your voice while speaking. It adds meaning, emphasis, and emotional expression to your words. You want to raise and lower your voice throughout your presentation based on where you are in the pitch.

For example, if I’m presenting the offer, I want to sound really confident, and like I’m doing them a huge favor by offering them this exclusive deal. If the prospect is sharing how they’ve had a bad experience in the past with another company, your pitch should be low and convey empathy and compassion. Varying your pitch, the pace at which you speak, and the volume can make your speech much more engaging.

Language

At all times, regardless of whether or not you’re pitching, you should communicate with strong language and avoid sounding weak. This is a big problem on many of the calls I review. I hear founders constantly trying to be likable and agreeable. Don’t do this. By doing the opposite, you convey authority, strength, and confidence.

Yes, it’s important to build rapport, but if the prospect needs what you’re selling based on the pain point they’ve communicated and is making excuses for why they can’t move forward, push back, and challenge them. People will respect that.

Here are the main culprits of weak language in B2B and B2C sales and how the prospect receives them.

• Would you like to do a demo? = Let me talk to the team before we do.

• Did I catch you at a bad time? = Yes, can we reconnect over email.

• Can I have your email address? = I don’t like to give out my email.

• Do you have a better number? = You can call this mainline.

• Would you like to go ahead? = Call me back and let me think about it.

• Do you have any questions? = None that I can think of.

• Could you tell me your budget? = I don’t like to divulge that info.

No successful person will ever respect or take you seriously if you use this type of language. DMs want to deal with people on their own level. This type of language projects insecurity and a lack of confidence.  

And stop trying to be nice. Instead, be professional and competent. Speak with assertiveness and confidence. This confidence MUST be consistent across all lines of communication.

Here’s the right way to convey confidence/assertiveness:

Example:

• Wrong way: Would you like to do a demo?
  Right way: Let’s put a day and time on the calendar for the demo.
  

• Wrong way: Can I have your email address?
  Right way: What’s the best email address for you?
   

• Wrong way: Do you have a better number?
  Right way: What’s your cell phone number?
  

• Wrong way: Do you have any questions?
  Right way: What questions can I answer for you?
  

• Wrong way: Would you like to go ahead?
  Right way: I’m really excited to work with you. Let’s get you started!
  

• Wrong way:: Could you tell me your budget?
  Right way: What is your budget for?

Controlling the conversation and using assertive language will dictate the authority and engagement you command from the prospect.

That’s it for today!

See you all next week.



Darren

P.S. If finding PMF and scaling to $1M in ARR through founder-led sales is on your radar, book a call with me here

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