17 Summary and Flip

Everything in life is a progression of steps.

—Scott Reed

The whole point of a thirty-second speech is to engage

prospects enough that they start talking. When the first thirty

seconds of a cold call expire, it needs to become a conversation,

not a monologue. If the summary and flip at the end of

your speech fail to start the prospect talking, it makes no difference

how terrific the rest of the speech was. The call has

crashed and burned.

Here are some pointers about pulling off a good summary

and flip.

1. Use we, us, and you, never use I.

In your summary statement, avoid the word “I.”

Wrong: “These are great questions, Mr. Smith, but before

I get into those, I want to . . . .”

Who cares what you want to do? The prospect hasn’t

asked you out on a date.

Right: “These are great questions, Mr. Smith, but before

we get into those, could you . . . .”

Much better. This encourages two-way communication.

You’ve been doing all the talking to this point, but now you’re

asking him to participate.

2. End with a question.

We already explained that the “flip” at the end of your

thirty-second speech is an open-ended question. But it bears

repeating: The thirty-second speech ends with a question— always. It’s the prospects’ turn to start talking. You need to let

them know that. The question gives them their cue.

3. Make the question relevant.

Want to show prospects that you’re wasting their time?

That you’re on a fishing expedition for a “need” you can pretend

to satisfy? That you’re just delivering a canned spiel?

That you don’t really know or care about their situation or

their problems? Then go ahead and ask questions like these:

Wrong:

“So, Mr. Smith, what keeps you awake at night?”

“So, what are your pain points?”

“So, what is your area of need?”

You have to do a lot better than that. And you can. Make

the question relevant to the person you’re talking to.

Right:

To a senior executive: “What are the areas of most risk to

you as you enter the new fiscal year?”

To a vice president of marketing: “Where do you see your

growth opportunities coming from in the next three to six

months?”

To a design engineer: “What are the projects you’ll be

working on soon that will be the most interesting for you and

your company?”

Tailor your flip question as closely as you can to the

things you know about the prospect’s role and concerns. After

all, the premise of your call is that you can help them in some

way. Before they’ll take ownership of the conversation,

prospects need to feel that you know enough about what they

do—or what they care about—to be worth talking to.

A cold call is a work of art. Use your art to get the prospect

involved enough to start talking.

TIP: The more questions you ask about prospects’

specific concerns, the more they will talk about

their needs. The more they talk about their needs,

the likelier you will uncover one you can serve.

CAUTION: YOUR NATURAL TENDENCY WILL BE TO INTERRUPT AND

ANSWER THE NEED, SINCE THAT’S WHAT YOU GET PAID TO DO. FIGHT

IT. THE PROSPECT WOULDN’T HAVE BROUGHT UP THIS NEED UNLESS

THEY HAD A POSSIBLE ANSWER IN MIND. IF THEY ASK YOU QUESTIONS,

RESPOND WITH SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR QUESTIONS. THIS IS THE

“ASKING” TIME OF THE SALES CALL. THE ANSWERING TIME COMES

LATER—MUCH LATER.

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Everything in life is a progression of steps.

—Scott Reed

The whole point of a thirty-second speech is to engage

prospects enough that they start talking. When the first thirty

seconds of a cold call expire, it needs to become a conversation,

not a monologue. If the summary and flip at the end of

your speech fail to start the prospect talking, it makes no difference

how terrific the rest of the speech was. The call has

crashed and burned.

Here are some pointers about pulling off a good summary

and flip.

1. Use we, us, and you, never use I.

In your summary statement, avoid the word “I.”

Wrong: “These are great questions, Mr. Smith, but before

I get into those, I want to . . . .”

Who cares what you want to do? The prospect hasn’t

asked you out on a date.

Right: “These are great questions, Mr. Smith, but before

we get into those, could you . . . .”

Much better. This encourages two-way communication.

You’ve been doing all the talking to this point, but now you’re

asking him to participate.

2. End with a question.

We already explained that the “flip” at the end of your

thirty-second speech is an open-ended question. But it bears

repeating: The thirty-second speech ends with a question— always. It’s the prospects’ turn to start talking. You need to let

them know that. The question gives them their cue.

3. Make the question relevant.

Want to show prospects that you’re wasting their time?

That you’re on a fishing expedition for a “need” you can pretend

to satisfy? That you’re just delivering a canned spiel?

That you don’t really know or care about their situation or

their problems? Then go ahead and ask questions like these:

Wrong:

“So, Mr. Smith, what keeps you awake at night?”

“So, what are your pain points?”

“So, what is your area of need?”

You have to do a lot better than that. And you can. Make

the question relevant to the person you’re talking to.

Right:

To a senior executive: “What are the areas of most risk to

you as you enter the new fiscal year?”

To a vice president of marketing: “Where do you see your

growth opportunities coming from in the next three to six

months?”

To a design engineer: “What are the projects you’ll be

working on soon that will be the most interesting for you and

your company?”

Tailor your flip question as closely as you can to the

things you know about the prospect’s role and concerns. After

all, the premise of your call is that you can help them in some

way. Before they’ll take ownership of the conversation,

prospects need to feel that you know enough about what they

do—or what they care about—to be worth talking to.

A cold call is a work of art. Use your art to get the prospect

involved enough to start talking.

TIP: The more questions you ask about prospects’

specific concerns, the more they will talk about

their needs. The more they talk about their needs,

the likelier you will uncover one you can serve.

CAUTION: YOUR NATURAL TENDENCY WILL BE TO INTERRUPT AND

ANSWER THE NEED, SINCE THAT’S WHAT YOU GET PAID TO DO. FIGHT

IT. THE PROSPECT WOULDN’T HAVE BROUGHT UP THIS NEED UNLESS

THEY HAD A POSSIBLE ANSWER IN MIND. IF THEY ASK YOU QUESTIONS,

RESPOND WITH SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR QUESTIONS. THIS IS THE

“ASKING” TIME OF THE SALES CALL. THE ANSWERING TIME COMES

LATER—MUCH LATER.

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