The inspiration for this article came while doing scenarios during a training session. I was taking telesales calls and I remember loosing my train of thought, because I had no interest in what the sales person was saying. He had not asked any questions. He seemed to already know what solution he was going to pitch without determining what I wanted. The picture he painted was his own and not mine. After several calls, I understood why my client’s clients were not interested. The word pictures all seemed to be the same and were delivered with no or little enthusiasm.

What kind of word pictures are you painting? Are they yours or your customer's? Are you painting your pictures with enthusiasm and customized for each customer or prospect? Here are a few tips that we practice.

Determine the style of your customers and prospects. The next time you get a prospect or customer on the phone, or even on voice mail, determine the style of that person. As you may recall, each customer or prospect has a style where he or she naturally resides. If we, as sales people, are going meet the expectations of customers and prospects, we need to customize our delivery to meet their style. If we do not, the picture we paint will not appeal to them. We will put them to sleep.

Tape-record your calls. This is a daily ritual for me and most of the sales people in our office. As time passes, it becomes difficult to maintain the required level of enthusiasm needed to attract and keep customers. Sometimes we fall into a routine where our messages sound the same and we treat each customer the same. Be aware, while you may not realize this your customers can. Listen to your tapes and determine if you would buy from yourself. I can recall a time when I replayed some of my voice mails and could easily understand why no one was returning my calls. I sounded the same in each message. Have people listen to your tapes and ask them to give you honest feedback. This helps you understand how others perceive you.

Practice on your coworkers. Make sales calls on the people you work with. Just as we do in our courses, videotape or audio record the sales calls. This is a powerful method of learning. Again, ask yourself about your delivery and word pictures. Can you see yourself buying from you? Are you approaching the sale as you should? Are you tailoring your method of delivery to the individual you are calling on? If not, ask for suggestions from the people you work with. And go back to the People Styles section of your manual to review the different styles and what each is expecting from you.