When you think of a typical salesperson, what comes to mind?

Most of the time, it’s the overly friendly, higher pitched chipper version of yourself that you feel you have to present.

The buddy-buddy salesperson that we all seem to adopt when we start selling.

We’re told that we need to:

• Be the most excited person on the call
• Build rapport which we translate into ass-kissing
• Get them hyped up and hope they don’t ask any hard questions

That’s what every typical salesperson does.

As soon as the prospect gets one minute in, they know they’re dealing with another one of “them”.

But how do you actually stop that?

Step 1:

Listen back to some of your calls. Listen, don’t watch.

Pay attention to your pitch. When they say something you hope they’ll say, notice what happens to your voice.

When they’re speaking, listen to how you go to interrupt them and add to their point.

Or, how you’re already going to ask your next question before they’ve even finished speaking, missing all of the gold they’re about to spill.

Step 2:

Watch your calls. Notice your eyebrows, notice your smile, then how they don’t always go together.

See how you try and over exaggerate facial expressions to add to your point.

Ask yourself, would I ever do that in a normal face to face conversation?

Step 3:

The easiest way to drop that salesperson ick is to shut up.

After they respond, give them 2 seconds of space to fill. If they don’t, you speak.

This slows down the pace of the call and allows you to truly listen to what they’re saying.

Step 4:

Practice the script when not on a call, speak as you normally would.

This gives you a benchmark so once you’re on the call, you’ll realize just how high pitched you go.

Step 5:

Understand the difference between kiss-assing and acknowledgement.

The first is where you applaud the person for simply existing.

The second is where you acknowledge what they said, and ask them a question about it.

Action Steps

This is a pretty straightforward one.

Follow the steps, don’t skip any.

Get someone else to watch your calls too and see what they say.

Understand this won’t be a one off, you need to consistently do it.