I’ve had no formal training, and in the last four years, everything I’ve picked up has come from YouTube tutorials, sales books, and now sales coaching. So then I suppose maybe I have had formal training regarding tonality in sales The British tend to be more neutral, flatter and even in tone – whilst the Italians – well they’re tone speaks for themselves. I guess now, 9 years later we’ve reached some kind of middle ground – but over these years, tonal modulation – as I think Jordan Belfort calls it – has been a significant factor in helping me win business and I want to walk you through what it is today and why tonality in speech is important.
What is Tonality in sales anyway? If you now close your eyes and say these things out loud and pay attention to the way you say them…you might be concerned to discover that it’s not that difficult to make them sound exactly the same. In fact – you might ALREADY be saying them exactly the same lol. I’ve always found that the easiest way to think about tonality is when your partner says to you ‘you’re not listening’ – even though you’re technically replying to something – but it’s obvious (from both tone and body language) – that you’re not REALLY there.
Ambiguous Tonality You have an ambiguous tone of voice – where your partner, or another person on the sales call – can’t really interpret the true meaning behind what you’re saying. And as human beings are social animals, it’s CRITICAL via tone of voice to first establish trust and confidence in your ability – and this is first demonstrated not by your words, but rather your tone. It’s Never What You Say But How You Say It This is absolutely an expression you will have heard before – but it’s just not considered enough when it comes to the world of b2b sales. You can say anything and get away (mostly) with anything in the world if you understand how to deploy the right tonality in sales when you say it. And as communication is something like 80% non-verbal – this also extends to the tone of voice.
Tonality in sales training Well, there are some simple strategies I would urge you to consider – but it begins with understanding the basic tonal patterns that exist. Scarcity/Urgency: This is one you can definitely cock up pretty easily – because it’s easy to spot ‘fake urgency’ – so what I would say with this tone – is that – make sure the urgency/scarcity you’re implying is real! The Reasonable Man: This is like ‘joining the other side’ or rather being conciliatory of their requests or expectations – and in this way, you effectively become part of their team. You should see this come up a lot when negotiating deals Absolute Certainty: If you believe in what you’re selling (and it doesn’t always need to be in sales) – then this is definitely something that you want to communicate with your tone of voice.
Using A Question When Your Statement Should Be Declarative Again if you consider tonality in an expression like this you can quite easily turn it into an ask for approval, confusion as to how you came to be in agreement or of course – a ‘declaration’ Series Of Three-Up Tones If this is going well – your prospect should be nodding throughout these three-up’s – and typically the three up’s are just confirming next actions and the like for the follow up from the call.
The Presupposing Tone This is the type of tone where you think you already know the answer to the question – and that’s what you try and communicate through the tone in your voice. It’s useful when reconfirming benefits someone is expecting to receive as part of your service. It’s almost like an implied way of saying ‘So as you would expect’ – without actually saying it!
Voice Inflections In Sales Can Change Everything If you develop the ability to call upon such tonality in sales as and when it’s required – you’re going to gain excellent mastery over sales calls and you’re ability to turn things on their head. I’d highly recommend you consider a tonality course (or I can help you lol) – because one course alone I’m confident will offer you the guidance you need to bridge the gap between where you are – and quickly becoming something of an expert. And when you’re able to combine tonality in speech with tonality in body language and mix and match between these 10 tonalities than well…
FINAL THOUGHTS Tonality in sales is crazily something that’s not considered enough when developing your all-around sales expertise – but I’d go so far as to say that if you achieve mastery of tonality – It’s the biggest 1 skill for powerful communication. You’ll find any great motivational speaker has great tonality – and can sway and influence hundreds of thousands of people through the sheer power of their tone.