We’ve all been guilty of it — adopting a phony “phone voice”. Sales strategist Jeff Hoffman explains why it’s a common tendency for sales reps to change their voice on sales calls to sound more experienced or credible — and why that’s a big mistake.

In this latest episode of Strictly Sales with Jeff Hoffman, Jeff tackles a classic problem many sales reps may not even be aware of — the “sales voice”.

It is very common for people to change the way talk when they are on the phone with someone they are unfamiliar with. With sales reps, there is no exception.

Jeff explains that the main reason people alter their sales voice is because they are trying to make themselves sound more credible — which he describes as a big mistake. Instead, managers should actively work with reps to establish a level of comfort on the phone so that they can speak more naturally. Not only will it help the call go more smoothly, it will result in more comfortable and interested prospects, too.

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Key Takeaways

“I think it’s really a symptom of us being insecure with our ignorance. But the truth is that it’s our ignorance that is going to let us discover what we need to learn to sell this stuff. It’s our best weapon — our ignorance.

— Jeff Hoffman, M. J. Hoffman and Associates

* Stop trying to sound credible: The customer typically isn’t expecting you to be in expert in their field. [1:35]

* Stop pretending you’re someone you’re not: With sites like Linkedin, customer’s can easily see your background — there is no hiding behind the phone and act older or experienced. [2:45]

* Steps to get rid of the bad sales voice: Practice leaving sales voicemails to friends and family [3:30]; leave voicemails to self [4:00]; with a customer, admit you aren’t an expert [4:30]

Transcript

Jeff: This is Strictly Sales with Jeff Hoffman and CeCe Bazar. For more information go to OpenView Labs or mjhoffman.com.

CeCe: And we’re back for more Strictly Sales with Jeff Hoffman. Jeff, here again at OpenView Studios.

Jeff: This is a really short drive for me so I don’t mind it. No, I’m so happy that the response has been good and I know that both your site and mine, we get a lot of questions. And keep them coming, because a lot of the sources for these podcast topics are really coming from you guys and from the audience.

CeCe: Yeah, and we had one that came in the other day, and this one actually made me laugh a little bit, because we’ve all been there, and it was a really simple question; why do I sound like such a tool on the phone? I mean, we all have a phone voice, I probably have a podcast voice right now, and I’m sure my mom’s listening in being like, ‘that’s not my daughter!’ But we all have it. Why do we do it, and how do we break out of it?

Jeff: Yeah, it’s like that kind of like studio voice, or that sales voice that people have.

CeCe: Hi, this is CeCe Bazar from OpenView Labs.

Jeff: Yeah, it’s funny, because I hear people who don’t sound like that at all and then they jump on the phone and they get there, and I think that it’s pretty [inaudible 00:01:20] of this sale’s rep to write it in and to ask that question. Well, first let’s talk about why people do this because I think that it’s a big part of fixing it. Obviously, it’s because we’re nervous, but it actually has to do with something more complicated than being nervous.

I think one of the worst kind of ideas we’ve been sold in sales,