Messaging: Now let’s talk about power speaking and other points of phrasing

“Power speaking”, sounds like some way of charging up the team and getting every one excited. Well, not exactly. What I mean by power speaking is using words that promote confidence. Assertive statements that call actions and demand more than suggest. To start let’s discuss the words and phrasing that will leave your vocabulary today:

1. Might
2. May have
3. Just wanted
4.  Was hoping
5. Maybe

Add to this list any other soft, passive, wishy washy word set that does nothing but put your prospect in the drivers seat. Instead, use word like:

1. Must
2. Will
3. Going to
4. Confirm
5. We are

In sales trainings people have suggested many things to me, but I never recall getting this advice. If you are evangelizing the new, you must be more assertive, If we are, you will see that we are going to be more successful. Please contact me to confirm that I am right.

For more on messaging and related sales training, contact me at salesmentor@karlgoldfield.com

Messaging: Prose and poetry, write like you mean it or do not write!

Sales tip for those who like to move fast. If you can not write, have some one ghost write for you(marketing, a buddy, your spouse, anybody!). Otherwise take some lessons or hire a copywriter. There are many who would argue that proper English is dying, and in the modern days of Twitter, SMS and IM we all write in a mini version of real communication. When it comes to consumption of the now, and the social aspect of real time communication, I could not agree more.

WHEN IT COMES TO THE EMAILS YOU SEND YOUR POTENTIAL CLIENTS, YOU SHOULD WRITE HOW YOUR ELEVENTH GRADE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER TOLD YOU TO WRITE. That is right, I am screaming this at the rafters. Let me calm down.

When it comes to e-mail, and letters, and quick notes, your words in print are the equivalent to how you are dressed in your prospect’s mind’s eye. Would you show up for a meeting in your beach shorts and a tank top? Would you skip the mirror and show up unshaven, shirt buttoned incorrectly (See Jerk on left), and expect to win business?

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Messaging: You can leave it, if it is the right one. Part 2 – Grab me, or I will delete you

Really, this  image more or less says it all! I am in awe that I found this, and yes it is a real company. To continue with the concept of leaving a message we are going to ease down to the most dangerous of all messages. The one that is so dull, monotone, pointless, or irritating that your prospect remembers you…but for all of the wrong reasons. If you ask people in a Sales training whether or not they leave boring messages, almost everyone will deny it.However, if you walk the sales floor, especially later in the day, you can hear gems like:

“Hi, this is Karl, “spoken in robotic I just finished a really heavy lunch and might fall asleep in the middle of this message tone, “I wanted to call you today and discuss my company’s product, Put You To Sleep Widgets, here at Boring Inc. we pride ouselves in getting deleted before you make it to the end of the message.”

SEVEN SECONDS.  1,2,3,4,5,6,7

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Ask the coach: Well the world was asked but the coach answered

For this installment, I must first state that this was a question asked on LinkedIn, so until we went back and forth it was truly an ask the coach. That said, it fits in perfectly into our conversations about messaging then gets a bit deeper.  The question asked is below, and the back and forth clearly outlines how hard it is to explain what is needed to define a clear entry message.

The question:

Fast = Hacky?

A little background:

In my business development efforts I often need to explain who we are and why you should be talking to me.  The “WIIFM” (what’s in it for me) value statement that opens the door making continuing the conversation worth your time.

One of our companies top values is that we build applications fast. (that’s it)

Which usually hits the experienced ears as: (great, another outsource provider that puts our work at a lower priority than their larger clients, delivers hacky code, over promises then under delivers time and time again)

I’m aware that there’s tremendous value in being able to deliver high quality work faster than our peers, but how do you say fast and “un-hacky” without sounding hokey or like a vacuum cleaner salesman?

Solid code?
Clean code?
Quality programing?
Robustly Written Code?
Efficient?
Concise?
Well-Written?
Accurate?
Scrumptrulescent?
Super-Fantastically Ultra-Marvelous Code
Omni Spectacular?

All of the above?

My first answer:

Let’s start with a big who cares? This is what you need to know before any of this matters.

Next? What do they care about. Fast is not important unless I care about fast, accurate is not important yada yada yada.

What matters? What your targeted prospects want. Who are your targeted prospects? Do you have customers? Find out why they bought and find people JUST LIKE THEM.

Short and sweet, but you get the point. For more check out the blog and sign up fpr the newsletter.I am talking about messaging this month and have answers for you.

The rebuttal:

Hi Karl,

Thanks for answering.  You’re right, but let’s assume that I’ve already done my marketing research, I’m calling the correct people, and I have a solution that they need.

Over and above having a valuable and competitive service offering as my steak, I need to get my foot in the door with some sizzle and smells of charcoal

(That’s why I posted this question under software development and not under a sales tech category.)

For the purpose of this question:

Mainly, I’m looking for the golden words that raise the eyebrows of my prospects on that first call (I doubt they exist but I’ll keep trying until everyone is our customer).  Proving we’re awesome is no problem after establishing that initial interest.

My next response:

Again, go back to your customers for two things.

1. What compelled them to buy
2. What benefits are they experiencing now

These are your razor blades to cut through the noise of a prospect’s day
Then he went to this blog and returned with this:

HI Karl,

This is excellent stuff,. after reading I thought maybe you could help me out?

When you looked your knowledge filled blogs have you found any flaws in your advice,. or pieces of the puzzle that you’re missing?

Besides the gaps in knowledge that you don’t know about,. (people don’t know,. what they don’t know),. what have you found that you’ve wanted to add, but just haven’t developed the content for?

My DEEP follow up:

Great questions and yes there is still lots to cover. Also, Sales in my opinion is not science but art. Like, art of other mediums, what is considered current and valuable changes with social paradigms. Sales is evolving and right now so quickly that many of the things I have written need to be amended just a year after they went to print.

Messaging: You can leave it, if it is the right one. Part 1 – No flashing lights!

Leaving a message on a voice mail can waste your lead stack or make you into a top seller in instants.In many of a sales training I argued with the trainers that recommended it and championed the ones that did not. Why? Frankly my style did not translate well to messages. You see, anyone who has worked for, worked with, hired, or frankly met me will confirm that I am chocked full of passion and fire. This enthusiasm is what gets my prospects jumping out of their seats. The problem is, it makes for AWFUL MESSAGES!!!

When leaving messages, you MUST NOT SOUND TOO EXCITED OR DRAMATIC. People checking their voice mail will hit delete or skip faster than you can say your name if they feel you are some hyped up sales person. Oh, and do not start with your name, in fact, before we go on let’s cover some basic rules of voice mail.

1. Do not say your name until the end of the message
2. Do not say your company’s name until after you say your name

   (For one and two, even at the end of the message, they will not care, so why would they care who you are and what company you work for before you get to the point. In my opinion you have less than 5 seconds to grab someone in a voice mail, spend it wisely.)

3. State your phone number before your name and company and always reapeat it at the very end.
   (My style, “For more, you can reach me at 888-555-1212, again this is Karl at startup sales mentor, at 888-555-1212.”)
4. Lead with their name and say it OFTEN! People’s favorite thing to hear is their own name, it breed familiarity.
5. Get to the point, and point to others. Talk about what you have done for someone else. This is what will matter.
6. Speak to  what matters. What matters to C-Level and VP level people is saving time, saving money, making money, and keeping people happy. Forget features, functions, ROI, TCO, they do not care! What matters to managers, lay people, and consumers is that something will make them look, feel, perform, or just simply do better. As Konrath calls it, making a difference.
7. Do not expect a call back. Expect them to recognize you when you finally get through. This is paramount and really a great way to think about it. If you leave a few messages that are compelling, when you finally get someone they remember. I have made MANY SALES THIS WAY and you can too!

Now back to the point; and yes at the end of the next post I will share examples of my messages.

When you call someone you want to speak in a calm but confident tone. Speak in short clear sentences, and leave the superlatives for when you are talking one on one and they matter. Nothing gets someone to the delete button faster than the scent of manure. Even if you are #1 or the best, or cheapest or fastest, it just does not translate to a message.

If you want to hit the 42 second mark, and yes I recommend that messages are at least 30 seconds if crafted properly, you must, I SAID YOU MUST CONSIDER EVERY 6 SECONDS AS VITAL! Script what you are going to say and say it smooth.

More next time, but for now get that pen, and relax, you are about to make a sale!