What You Say About What You Do

“You have to create value in the sales process, create value in all the communication that you’re putting out there. When you do that, you’re already positioned better and differently. So when you think about the idea of what you say about what you do, you’re doing it in a way that is actually appealing to people rather than repellent.”

David: Hi, and welcome back. In today’s episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the topic “what you say about what you do.” What it is, Jay?

Jay: Hey, David, how’s it going? Once again, it’s a pleasure to be here. I think, how we view ourselves, how we talk to ourselves, what is that inner monologue?

Those types of things, they matter a lot, and they’re probably things that we never think about.

David: Yeah. And it’s interesting you should bring that up. Because when we talk about what we say about what we do, yeah, there’s what you just mentioned, what we’re telling ourselves in our own heads. And then there’s also the idea of what we’re saying to prospects and clients about what we will potentially do for them.

Essentially the communication, the messaging that we are putting out into the world, that will allow someone to decide whether or not they want to do business with us.

Jay: Yeah. And this is so important because if you over promise, you’re setting up for failure from the beginning, right? If you under promise, then they may find a competitor who promises something faster or better. So there is a strike zone there somewhere that you have to find.

David: Exactly. And our messaging is very likely either going to attract the person we’re talking to, or it’s going to repel them. Probably the worst case scenario is if it does neither. It’s just totally boring and they’re not even paying attention to what you have to say.

But when we recognize that, particularly in the early stages, what we tell them about what we do or what we’re planning to do for them is going to determine the nature of the relationship.

If we communicate something that sounds appealing to them, It’s like they’ll be interested. If we communicate something that does not sound appealing to them, then it’s likely they are not going to be interested.

So we don’t want to go into these situations and wing it, particularly when we’re going from prospect to prospect.

We want to make sure that we’re creating a consistent experience so that each person we talk to is getting the best of what we have to offer, up front, so they can make an intelligent decision.

Jay: Yeah, we’ve really started using, I learned it from being in the media, process language. Like, if you are out doing a news report somewhere, you didn’t just say, well, I’m standing on the street corner and this is what I’m seeing. You instead say, “well, we got here about 20 minutes ago when we rolled up, this is what we saw. This is what we’re seeing, right? You bring them with you to wherever you’re at. And so we kind of do this process language, not just about how we got here.

And process questions. Like I want to know what drove you to call me. So that’s the first thing I want to know, “what drove you to call me?” The second thing I want to know is, what is your expectation from this call? Like what are you hoping to gain from it? And then we can get to where we’re at.

And then we’ll start talking a little bit. If you use our services, this will be the process moving forward. By the time we’ve shaped this whole thing, it’s like we’ve been friends for years, you know what I mean? So, it’s something that I love doing and it makes the potential client very comfortable.

David: It makes a whole lot of sense and it’s really about being present in that moment with the prospect or client, and having them be there with you at that point as well. Where one person is not talking, another person is totally tuned out.

It really is about creating that level of communication where you are interacting the way that you need to in any relationship.

And when you think about it, every sales relationship, just like any personal relationship, they involve, they require, that sort of level of communication. And I think they also require a great deal of clarity.

Jay: Yeah. And again, we have to be honest, my services that we offer, tax services for a very specific clientele, it’s much easier for me to say, okay, why did you call and what has your experience been?

It’s been easy to define that. I don’t want to give people the impression that that’s always simple. A lot of times you cold called them. And so you can’t say, well, why did you call me? Do you know what I mean? You can’t…

David: Right yeah.

Jay: You can’t…

David: They can say that to you…

Jay: That’s right. So it really does depend upon the type of business you have to create this story on your own.

But I think if you call it a story and you’re making them, what the main character of the story? i’ve heard that before. And you’re progressing them through that story, even on the first call, I think that’s going to make a difference

David: Yeah, I completely agree. When you’re in that situation where you’re having these conversations, particularly if you’re reaching out to them, if you’re cold calling somebody you don’t even want them to get to the point where they’re asking you, why are you calling me, right?

That means the thing you say up front needs to be compelling enough to grab their attention and get them interested enough in the conversation that they don’t even think to ask that.

Jay: Yeah, exactly. So, if I could get them asking questions or if I’m, you’ve heard this before, and I think it’s become cliche. Get them talking, right?

But it’s not just getting them talking. it’s what are they talking about? If you can get them talking about the thing that you’re offering. Or their negative experience with the thing that you’re offering, or if it’s promotional material, what is impeding their sales or things like that, then you’re obviously way ahead of the game at that point.

David: Yeah. And it’s the classic, you know, what’s in it for them. If I’m talking about them, their needs, what they’re looking to accomplish, they’re going to be a lot more interested in that than if I’m talking about what I do and how I do it and why they should give me money. Right?

When you are taking one approach, you’re talking about what you do. That’s essentially more of a sales approach. When you take the other approach of how what you do solves their problem, then it’s about them, and they’re going to be a lot more receptive to it.

Jay: Yeah, and a lot of times, depending upon your industry, they may not know they have the problem, right?

That’s something that we do a lot on our consultations, is help people understand they’re setting themselves up for a world of hurt. Now, tax wise, you can really be in a world of hurt, right?

And so just helping them understand where they’re at before we ever talk about being a salesperson or offering services. By the time they get to that point, they’re saying, “okay, I understand now that I’ve I’ve got a potential problem, can you solve it for me? And how much would that cost?” Right?

So again, I’m not a salesperson at that time. I’m a savior at that point. So, you know, if you can lead people in that direction, you can win.

David: Yeah. It’s such a great point, particularly when you think in terms of the whole idea of coming across as the authority, right?

You used the word savior, but even just an authority, if they recognize that you know what you’re talking about in this particular realm, better than they do, more than they do, and you’re able to help them, they’re going to be a lot more responsive to that.

And one of the challenges for a lot of people is how do you sound like an authority, without coming across as arrogant or conceited or positioning yourself as if you’re better than they are.

That’s not what you’re looking to do. You need to be able to convey the fact that you’re the expert through your knowledge, through your expertise, through your language. But you have to do that in a way that still allows you to be accessible.

And so all of that, when we talk about the idea of what it is that we’re saying to people about what we do, there’s a lot of balance that has to come into play there.

Jay: Yeah, I love that you brought a couple of things up here because we have some experience with our competitors. We kind of track them. I’m sure they track us and we get a lot of calls from people who are doing their research. And they’ve called them and now they call us and I’m never afraid when they say, “well, I talked to some of your competitors.”

I’m like, oh, this is going to be perfect. This is going to be great. Because I know how our competitors act. They do something completely different than us. Or they want the customer or the potential client to feel dumb. Maybe they want them to feel like there’s no way they could understand any of this stuff.

And so you need an expert, and then they start scaring them. They are using scare tactics about how they might get in trouble. And people get off the phone and they’re panicked, right? And that’s their sales model. That’s what they want. The