This is a Guest Post from Julian Blee, of Fat Cat Ideas.

I may rattle some cages with this article, and this is not something I try to do. However, there is one thing  that drives me mad in sales and that is a sales person that thinks that because they are over friendly they will get a sale. Anyone who adopts the ‘smother them in love’ policy really hasn’t thought the sales process through.

Let me explain to you using a real life example that I am sure that everyone one of you can relate to. My mobile phone rang this morning and when I answered it I heard a bouncy over friendly voice say, “Hi I am calling to speak to Julian Blee, this is Barry from ……… (a popular mobile service provider), am I speaking to Julian…?”. I am immediately alerted to the fact that this is more than likely a telesales call. I am automatically on the back foot and feeling defensive and thinking of how I can begin the ‘getting rid of them’ process. Needless to say the conversation was a cold call from a mobile phone service provider attempting to better my current package.

They may have been able to offer me a phenomenal package that would have had me howling at the moon in delight, but the fact of the matter is that people do not like to be sold to, so I completed the getting rid of them process and ended the call. I won’t go any further into what dialogue was exchanged, but I will look at why his pitch didn’t even have a chance to blossom. There were 3 primary reasons why it failed within 15 seconds:

1. Over friendly
2. The need to confirm he was talking to me clarified he didn’t know me
3. Each sentence was doused with a heavy dose of ‘upward inflection’

Let’s look at these 3 common mistakes…

Being too friendly, to someone that you actually do not know can result in the complete opposite.

1: Over Friendly
This is a common misconception that being super friendly towards people when cold calling will somehow assist you in the ‘getting to know you’ process. This is an approach that was outdated, but is still taught by a huge population of unskilled sales trainers throughout the telephone sales industry. If someone walked up to you in the street with a beaming smile and said “Hi how ya doing, do you have a few moments?” I am sure that you would be rather unnerved and suspicious of their motives. The same goes for the telephone. If you’re calling clients or potential clients for the first time, when you get through to them please don’t act as if you are their best friend and be over familiar and over friendly as that approach just doesn’t work. The only sales people that should do this are those that sell Happy Meals.

Zig Ziglar says, “Sales is a process and not an event.” As it is a process certain things need to be done in order to get the order. One thing that you should never do is be over familiar. No one likes over familiarity, and there isn’t a better way of becoming over familiar than being too friendly to someone you don’t know, too soon.

2: Am I Talking to You?
Talking to someone you don’t know, as if they are your best friend is bad enough. But talking to someone as if they are your best friend and then having to ask if you’re talking to the right person just makes you sound stupid. I fully understand that it is essential that you must confirm that you are talking to the right person but there is a better way of doing it and I will come to that in a few moments.

3: Upward Inflection
For those of you that don’t know what upward inflection is, it’s the upward direction of the voice’s pitch that’s usually placed at the end of a sentence. For example; if you saw someone that you were fond of and you hadn’t seen them for a while you may say; “Hi, how are you?” Because of the nature of the greeting and the friendliness in your voice you would more than likely apply upward inflection at the end of the sentence.

If that’s not clear in your mind yet try saying aloud to yourself, “Hi, how are things going?” (Don’t try this exercise on a busy train or tube as people stare. Trust me, I’ve done it.) Before you start talking to yourself, let me ask you to do this twice. Firstly say it as if you’re pleased to see someone, picture someone you like, someone who makes you smile. Secondly, pretend that you are saying the same thing to someone that you are not keen on. It shouldn’t be someone you despise, just someone that you wouldn’t really want to get stuck in a lift with. You will find that the happier you are to see someone, the more upward inflection there is on the end of your sentence. You will find that when you are not super pleased to see someone, you can still be polite, but you won’t have the over-friendly upward inflection at the end of your sentences.

That type of upward inflection is fine when you’re talking to a friend, but when you are talking to a potential client for the first time it screams ‘TELESALES.’ Nothing will inform the person that you are a sales person quicker than upward inflection. One other characteristic that upward inflection carries with it is a lack of confidence. Upward inflection at the end of any sentence hints at the fact that you are not 100% confident of what you have just said.

I will give you an extreme example of this. My fiancée is from New Zealand and when we have dinner parties our house is usually full of the booming voices of all of her Kiwi and Australian friends. One thing that is very noticeable about both these type of accents is the consistent presence of upward inflection. This is not a slant on their incredibly boisterous accents in any way shape of form, but an observation of ‘upward inflection’ in full friendly swing.

I was introduced to an Australian guy a few weeks ago at a Christmas party. I told him that my name was Jules and he said, “Nice to meet you mate, my names Terry.” The upward inflection was so extreme on the end of his sentence that I noticed that it actually sounded as if he wasn’t sure that his name was in fact Terry. Of course he knew what his own name was, but I am simply pointing out that upward inflection can even add an element of uncertainty to someone telling you their own name. If it can have that effect of someone telling you something of unquestionable truth, imagine the effect it can have on the first few lines of your telephone sales pitch.

We have covered the following 3 aspects of a dying sales pitch:

1.    Being over friendly
2.    Confirming that your speaking to the right person
3.    Upward inflection

I know that some of you are thinking that I have gone crazy because we all know that those 3 points that I have mentioned are in certain degrees absolutely imperative for a good opening pitch. It’s important that you build a rapport with your client. You need to be friendly to your potential client, you also need to confirm that you’re talking to the right person, and well, Jules you’ve already said that upward inflection can sound friendly, and friendliness is a good thing. So if all of these things are good, why are you saying that these 3 points will kill a sales presentation?

These qualities and actions are necessary in order not just to open your sales pitch, but also to continue through your presentation and to close the deal. However these skills, and many others need to be used in a certain order and with certain degrees of usage. The reason that they will kill a presentation is because they are used in the wrong order and in too high dosages. I like a hot curry, but if I order a Phaal the heat is just too extreme and it ruins everything, including the lining of my oesophagus.

Too much of anything in most cases just doesn’t work.

You are right in thinking that the 3 points I have been questioning are in fact quite important. But the thing that needs to change is the upward inflection. If your change the upward inflection to downward inflection you are in a whole new ball park concerning your voice and how you come across on the phone.  If the opening 15 to 30 seconds of your call is delivered with downward inflection it adds a new aura of seriousness to your presentation.

Downward inflection carries a sense of confidence with it. It tells the listener that you have something serious to say. Let’s face it, if the prospect doesn’t buy from you, you get no commission, if you get no commission you can’t pay your rent, and if you can’t pay your rent well, that is serious, isn’t it?

Let’s go back to the beginning of this article when I mentioned that I was called by a sales person this morning with a bouncy and beaming voice. What if the person said exactly the same thing, but this time they inflected downwards. It doesn’t matter if you are Tigger himself; downward inflection will make you sound more serious and it immediately gives you more kudos. If you sound serious, people will listen to you. And believe me, in your opening gambit, that’s exactly what you want to happen. You want the prospect to listen to you and actually weigh up in their mind whether they want to give you some of their valuable time or not in order for them to hear more about the offer you have just briefly summarised in your 30 second long opening pitch.

Try this exercise when you are selling over the phone today. Try opening a client with upward inflection, and then the next one with downward inflection. 9 times out of 10 the downward inflection will get you further.

Remember that sales is a process, and in order to get to the sale you must travel through that sales process in a structured fashion. You need to get to know your client and they need to get to know you. So if you are the most bubbly, bouncy and boisterous person, start off with some downward inflection, otherwise too much too soon can scare the client off.

Julian Blee has been in the sales business for 20 years and is currently the ‘fattest cat’ at UK firm Fat Cat Ideas, a company that offers sales orientated SME’s a range of no nonsense, jargon free, sales training, marketing and copy writing services.

If you like this post, you might like these other telesales and telemarketing tips:

Telesales Urban Myth #1 – Ignore No’s, You Can Always Deal With Them at the End!

Telesales Urban Myth #2: – You’re Quite Chatty, You Should Be In Sales!

Telesales Urban Myth #4: “You’re a Good Salesperson” is Not a Compliment!

5 Quick Telesales Prospecting Tips!