Tuesday 25 December 2007

Closing Sales - how words can or should create action

Having meet so many people on my courses and trainings I have seen some people that can influence others, while others can’t, and I have to be honest that I have wondered how it is that one can do it, while the other can’t ..…and another thing that interests me is how they do it consistently? I have looked carefully and I don’t believe that it is the “scripts” they use. I actually believe that it is the patterns in their language and how they deliver these word patterns. After years of listening to others, I have found the answer and the secret! It has to do with grammar and voice tone delivery. I know this sounds too simplistic to be true, but in the meantime I coach on the subject of communication and believe me, I know one thing for sure: you can learn it – easily, there is no mystery behind it.

 

Your mind responds to language (words) both consciously and unconsciously. Verbs or action words are especially powerful (this is important) when you desire effective communication. Research has provided evidence that your brain has special areas that respond to verbs more quickly than to nouns. There is also some indication that your brain unconsciously searches for meaningful verb and object-phrases as it processes language.

 

The mind is looking for an action statement. Not only is the brain filtering for action words, the verbs create mental action in the audience who hear or read them. By using verbs or action words in your written and spoken language, you can activate the areas of the brain that respond most quickly and influence mental activity in your audience.

 

So, by using verbs or action words in your written and spoken language, you can get to the areas of the brain that respond most quickly and generate and influence mental activity in your audience. The mental activity you stimulate is very similar to the brain activity that occurs prior to a person’s physical action or decision-making. In this way, with the right words, you can create a mental run through of what you want your audience to do. This rehearsal familiarizes their brain with the action and increases the likelihood that they will complete the desired action or advance. Even if your listener or reader consciously resists your arguments, their mind cannot defend against the impact you can have if you use the right words. What happens if I say to you, “Do not think of your favourite ice-cream”? What did you think of? Could you even taste it? When will you go and get yourself one; now, later today, tomorrow, or when you next go past an ice cream shop?

 

Your words produce action in your mind. Your mind wants to respond to the direction you give it, even if you inadvertently tell it the opposite of what you want. Have you ever had an experience playing tennis? As you make your shot you said to yourself “Don’t hit it out.” What happened? Your tennis ball bounced outside the line. Your mind processed the statement, “ … hit it out” and you did.

Active vs. Passive Language. It is not enough to just use verbs; we do this anyway in our everyday speech. We also need to switch from passive to active language patterns. For example, consider these two words:

 

Jumping! Vs. Jump!

 

The first is an intellectual concept that requires translation into meaning and relevance. The second stimulates an immediate neurological response that prepares your body in case you choose to jump.

 

If you want to influence a prospect or a group of prospects to take action, as you want them to, you must first tell them what action you want them to carry out. Tell them with clear, well-designed action statements. Sometimes you send an action command without realizing it. Consider the following phrases:

 

1. “Tom, play peacefully with your sister”, or

2. “Tom, don’t hit your sister.”

 

Theses sentences appear to be sending the same message to Tom. You would like Tom to play without using violence. However, Tom’s and your brain do not interpret the messages that way. Our brains unconsciously respond first to words that stimulate the nervous system, especially visual, auditory, or action and feeling (kinaesthetic) words. Your brain (or in this example, Tom’s) responds first to the action phrases. Therefore, the two sample sentences tell Tom’s brain two different things:

 

1. Love your sister.

2. Hit your sister.

 

What happened to the "don’t" part of message number 2? It gets filtered and deleted in the mental processing. To process the phrase, the brain first responds to the action. Often people build mental images of the instruction given. So in case 2, Tom builds a movie of himself hitting his sister. Then perhaps in attempting to process the “don’t” element he may freeze the movie or put a red circle with a diagonal line across it over the top of the movie. Just like in the universal “No Smoking” sign in airplanes. The mental rehearsal reflects the action statement. Your brain must initially ignore the negative to respond to the action and the linguistic structure of the sentence. Think about the following statements:

 

• “Do not worry about the effect of the recession.”

• “When you contract with us, you do not have to ask if we will still be in business next year.”

 

In each case, these messages are likely to create the opposite effect to what was intended. An action command must be clear. To be unambiguous, you must know what you want to happen. Your objective must be obvious. What do you want the person to do?

 

• Tell you who the competitors are

• Buy your product or service

• Recommend you to a more senior decision maker or give you a referral

• Call you back, after they listen to your message

• Invite you to another meeting

• Read your brochure

• Call a customer for a reference

• Renew their contract

• Tell you how they make purchase decisions

• Tell you who the financial decision-maker is

 

You must know your outcome and engineer that into your statements. You must say specifically what you want.

 

Be sure your action commands are built within the frame of a well-formed outcome. For example ensure the action is achievable. It makes no sense to deliver a command to “buy” if the prospect is not the financial decision maker and does not have the authority to buy or you have not appealed to his or hers value expectations (for more information see value based selling or sales psychology). Instead, a command to “recommend” or “set up a meeting” with the decision-maker is more appropriate. Even the best commands and words cannot create unworkable actions.

 

You can only send a limited number of commands before a prospect will get confused and ignore you. Choose the important actions and outcomes that you want. Choose from this list the ones that are possible. Decide how you are going to talk about these, what you are going to say, and say it. You must know if you are asking your prospect to “sign”, “buy”, “decide”, or “recommend”.

 

I hope this has helped or given you something to think about………and look forward to read some comments or new aspect or ideas to this discussion!

 

Regards – Mark von Rosing