Sales Tip of the Day: The 4 Conversations in every sales call

By Scott Sambucci | July 23, 2013

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”
– Robert McCloskey

There are four conversations in every sales call you make:

1. What you wanted to say.
2. What you said.
3. What you think you said.
4. What the client heard.

A few ideas to align your intentions with what the client receives:

• Product demos should be conversations, not show and tell. It’s not about getting through the 17 features. It’s about showing the client the 2-3 functions of your product that solve their problem.
• Preview the product feature you’re planning to show by starting with – “You said that tracking your inbound leads from Twitter is one of your biggest marketing ROI problems. Is that right? Got it. Let me show you how we solve that for you.” Then show the feature, and ask them – “Would this work for you? or “Is this what you had in mind based on our conversation last week?”
• Map out your sales calls (read more about Sales Mapping). Prepare for each branch in the conversation tree so that you can focus on the client’s questions and statements, instead of wondering what you’re going to say next.
• Keep your sentences short and consistent. You need to drive home the message because you are one of hundreds of conversation your prospect will have that day.
• Follow a 3:1 ratio in your conversations. For every three questions you ask, leave time for the prospect to ask you a question. This creates a two-way conversation instead of an interview.
• After 3-4 sentences that you speak, pause for the client to speak.

A few more reads about conversation:

• “Talk Deep, Be Happy” (NYTimes)
• “Men – the other talkative sex” (New Scientist)
• “That’s Not What I Meant” (Amazon)