The Magic Of Tone-Matching For Phone Sales
Tone-matching (a.k.a., mirroring) is the trump card when it comes to tone.
Tone-matching is exactly what its name suggests: matching your tone with your prospect’s.
There are two situations in which to use tone-matching:
- When you’re building rapport (at the very beginning of the call)
- When your prospect isn’t following along (at any point in the call)
When you begin the sales encounter, you should be your prospect’s tone as best as you can.
If your prospect speaks with a Southern drawl, start to mimic it just slightly. If your prospect is a fast-talking banker, keep up with their pace.
If your prospect is bubbly and chirpy, then you should raise the pitch of your voice to meet theirs. If your prospect speaks quietly, then make sure to avoid speaking loudly at risk of drowning out your prospect’s voice.
We use tone-matching at the very beginning of the sales encounter because we want to “get on the same page” with our prospect and avoid any possible friction at the beginning of the call.
Especially during rapport building, you want your prospect to think, “Hey, this person is like me.”
Studies show that people like other people who are like themselves.
Once you are both speaking in harmony, then you can start to adjust your tone to see if your prospect will follow along.
For example, when you’re pitching and talking with a faster tempo and louder volume, your prospect should start talking faster and louder with you.
If your prospect is still speaking slow and soft, this might mean they’re uninterested or not paying attention (or at least not getting excited about what you’re saying).
If this happens, you need to return to tone-matching to check-in with your prospect.
If done correctly, you’ll start the encounter by matching your prospect’s tone, meeting them where they are.
Then, as you begin to use your mastery of tone to control the conversation, your prospect will start to follow along, matching your tone, without even being consciously aware that they’re doing it.