25 Call _2: Second Thirty-Second Speech

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is

progress. Working together is success.

—Henry Ford

“Dennis, Bob, Gail, and Ted, it’s good seeing you

folks again. Thanks for having me back. Last time we

talked, you said you wanted to:

1. Change the travel agency you are dealing with by the

end of the year.

2. Make sure the new agency has a worldwide presence.

3. Insure you get 24/7 service without paying additional

charges.

“Today, you wanted to discuss:

1. How our agency can meet your specific needs, especially

the international problems your travelers have

been running into overseas.

2. What our online support function looks like.

3. How our pricing structure works.

“Is this correct? Any changes? Have any other items

come up since we talked? Good, then let’s get started with today’s meeting. First, I want to make sure we are

on the same page. If all goes well today, a good next

step we should be thinking about is to sit down and

put together a rough schedule of how the transition

would take place. We should have that done by the

end of the month. Is this okay with everyone? Great, so

let’s get to today’s agenda.”

After you have talked to a potential customer for the first

time, you are no longer cold calling. But you’re still prospecting—

at least in the sense that you aren’t yet dealing with an established

customer.

The second call on a prospect is often as tricky as the first

cold call, because this one is all about control of the sale. The

prospect wants control and so do you.

The above conversation is an example of a well-executed

thirty-second speech for sales call _2 and beyond. It recognizes

the prospects as the ones in charge of the deal. It lets

them know that their concerns have been heard—but keeps

the salesperson in control of the next step.

Broken into its component parts, that second thirtysecond

speech looks like the schematic in Figure 25-1.

Figure 25-1. A thirty-second speech.

Taken step by step, this speech is very easy to master and

modify for your own needs. Let’s look at its parts one by one.

Introduction

Plain and simple. Acknowledge everyone and thank them for

their time: “Dennis, Bob, Gail, and Ted, it’s good seeing you

folks again. Thanks for having me back.”

Their Goals

Here is where you make them feel they are being heard. Statements

like, “What I would like to do,” or, “What my company

can offer . . . “ are wrong at this time. If prospects are still talking

to you after the initial cold call, the reason is because they

have a goal they are trying to satisfy. By reminding them of it,

you let them know you’re here for their reasons, not just for

yours. When you state their goal, over and over, prospects will

say to themselves, “This person is listening to me. They understand

what I’m trying to do.”

This is much better than the prospect saying, “Yep, that’s

what this character said he could do for me—or to me, more

likely.”

“Last time we talked, you said you wanted to:

(1) Change the travel agency you are dealing with by

the end of the year; (2) make sure the new agency has

a worldwide presence; (3) Insure you get 24/7 service

without paying additional charges.”

See? No sales pitch hiding in there, and nothing yet about

what you can do for them or to them. You’re simply restating

the goals they stated to you, demonstrating that you were listening

and that you want to be sure you understand them correctly.

Today’s Agenda

Now get specific. Based on their goals and the understanding

you arrived at in the initial cold call, here are the topics you

expect they want to cover today. Since you are jumping in the

water now, make sure there is still water in the pool by asking

if they have any new concerns they’d like to talk about.

“Today, you wanted to discuss: (1) How our agency

can meet your specific needs, especially the international

problems your travelers run into overseas;

(2)what our online support function looks like; (3)

how our pricing structure works.

“Is this correct? Are there any changes? Have any other

items come up since we talked?”

Next Step

Don’t wait until the end of the meeting to clarify what the next

step in the process will be. Do it right up front, before you get

down to business. And make sure to attach a specific time to

the next step. This gives everyone a map that tells them where

they’re going. And, of course, it leaves you in control of the

process. Since you obviously have listened to them and understand

their goals, they’ll usually be happy to let you take

the lead by suggesting the next step.

“Good, then let’s get started with today’s meeting.

First, I want to make sure we are on the same page.

If all goes well today, a good next step would be to sit

down and put together a rough schedule of how the

transition would take place. We should have that

done by the end of the month. Is this okay with everyone?”

TIP: Way too often, the senior decision maker in the

meeting has to leave early. They’ll say something

like, “I have to go. Bob and Mary will finish this up

with you.” And whoosh, they’re out the door. Then

you have to struggle to get them back into the process.

Use your opening thirty-second speech to establish

a next step while the senior exec is still in the

room. That beats chasing them down the hallway

later.

Use this blueprint to construct a thirty-second speech for

every call after the first one. See what happens? You successfully

kick off the meeting. You make the prospects feel they

have been heard. You get your agenda for the meeting approved.

You uncover hidden questions and new agenda items.

You reach agreement on a next step. And the meeting starts

with you in control of the beginning and the end. Not bad at

all.

Call _2: Second Thirty-Second Speech 141

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Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is

progress. Working together is success.

—Henry Ford

“Dennis, Bob, Gail, and Ted, it’s good seeing you

folks again. Thanks for having me back. Last time we

talked, you said you wanted to:

1. Change the travel agency you are dealing with by the

end of the year.

2. Make sure the new agency has a worldwide presence.

3. Insure you get 24/7 service without paying additional

charges.

“Today, you wanted to discuss:

1. How our agency can meet your specific needs, especially

the international problems your travelers have

been running into overseas.

2. What our online support function looks like.

3. How our pricing structure works.

“Is this correct? Any changes? Have any other items

come up since we talked? Good, then let’s get started with today’s meeting. First, I want to make sure we are

on the same page. If all goes well today, a good next

step we should be thinking about is to sit down and

put together a rough schedule of how the transition

would take place. We should have that done by the

end of the month. Is this okay with everyone? Great, so

let’s get to today’s agenda.”

After you have talked to a potential customer for the first

time, you are no longer cold calling. But you’re still prospecting—

at least in the sense that you aren’t yet dealing with an established

customer.

The second call on a prospect is often as tricky as the first

cold call, because this one is all about control of the sale. The

prospect wants control and so do you.

The above conversation is an example of a well-executed

thirty-second speech for sales call _2 and beyond. It recognizes

the prospects as the ones in charge of the deal. It lets

them know that their concerns have been heard—but keeps

the salesperson in control of the next step.

Broken into its component parts, that second thirtysecond

speech looks like the schematic in Figure 25-1.

Figure 25-1. A thirty-second speech.

Taken step by step, this speech is very easy to master and

modify for your own needs. Let’s look at its parts one by one.

Introduction

Plain and simple. Acknowledge everyone and thank them for

their time: “Dennis, Bob, Gail, and Ted, it’s good seeing you

folks again. Thanks for having me back.”

Their Goals

Here is where you make them feel they are being heard. Statements

like, “What I would like to do,” or, “What my company

can offer . . . “ are wrong at this time. If prospects are still talking

to you after the initial cold call, the reason is because they

have a goal they are trying to satisfy. By reminding them of it,

you let them know you’re here for their reasons, not just for

yours. When you state their goal, over and over, prospects will

say to themselves, “This person is listening to me. They understand

what I’m trying to do.”

This is much better than the prospect saying, “Yep, that’s

what this character said he could do for me—or to me, more

likely.”

“Last time we talked, you said you wanted to:

(1) Change the travel agency you are dealing with by

the end of the year; (2) make sure the new agency has

a worldwide presence; (3) Insure you get 24/7 service

without paying additional charges.”

See? No sales pitch hiding in there, and nothing yet about

what you can do for them or to them. You’re simply restating

the goals they stated to you, demonstrating that you were listening

and that you want to be sure you understand them correctly.

Today’s Agenda

Now get specific. Based on their goals and the understanding

you arrived at in the initial cold call, here are the topics you

expect they want to cover today. Since you are jumping in the

water now, make sure there is still water in the pool by asking

if they have any new concerns they’d like to talk about.

“Today, you wanted to discuss: (1) How our agency

can meet your specific needs, especially the international

problems your travelers run into overseas;

(2)what our online support function looks like; (3)

how our pricing structure works.

“Is this correct? Are there any changes? Have any other

items come up since we talked?”

Next Step

Don’t wait until the end of the meeting to clarify what the next

step in the process will be. Do it right up front, before you get

down to business. And make sure to attach a specific time to

the next step. This gives everyone a map that tells them where

they’re going. And, of course, it leaves you in control of the

process. Since you obviously have listened to them and understand

their goals, they’ll usually be happy to let you take

the lead by suggesting the next step.

“Good, then let’s get started with today’s meeting.

First, I want to make sure we are on the same page.

If all goes well today, a good next step would be to sit

down and put together a rough schedule of how the

transition would take place. We should have that

done by the end of the month. Is this okay with everyone?”

TIP: Way too often, the senior decision maker in the

meeting has to leave early. They’ll say something

like, “I have to go. Bob and Mary will finish this up

with you.” And whoosh, they’re out the door. Then

you have to struggle to get them back into the process.

Use your opening thirty-second speech to establish

a next step while the senior exec is still in the

room. That beats chasing them down the hallway

later.

Use this blueprint to construct a thirty-second speech for

every call after the first one. See what happens? You successfully

kick off the meeting. You make the prospects feel they

have been heard. You get your agenda for the meeting approved.

You uncover hidden questions and new agenda items.

You reach agreement on a next step. And the meeting starts

with you in control of the beginning and the end. Not bad at

all.

Call _2: Second Thirty-Second Speech 141

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