What’s the difference between a mediocre sales team and a sales team that puts up some serious numbers? I get asked this question often. And good news — there’s a practical answer. There’s a recipe that you can bake into your sales team starting today.
I call it the “60/35/5 Rule.”
If your sales team follows this recipe, you’ll notice three things begin to happen.
First, you will notice more meetings booked. If your SDRs normally book 25 meetings in a month, you can expect to double or triple that.
Next, you’ll experience your closers actually closing sales at a much higher ratio. What a concept, right?
And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, you’ll notice a dramatic spike in confidence from your salespeople. They will finally see themselves as subject matter experts (SMEs). This, in turn, translates to more numbers on the board and a healthy boost in revenue.
It’s the perfect recipe for sales. The 60/35/5 Rule. Break these down into percentages and we get 60%, 35%, and 5%. Now let’s dig into it.
Tonality = 60%
In sales, your tonality is so important that 60% of the sales depends on it. You read that right – SIXTY PERCENT!
I won’t dive too deep into tonality here. If you want to learn about the power of your tone, or the art of speech, be sure to read my article Tonality in Sales – Getting C-Level Executives to Listen. But for a quick overview, your tonality is the WAY you sound to your prospect. It’s the inflection of your voice, the rhythm and speed at which you speak, the range, the volume.
Ever heard a great pastor or priest give a sermon and the message just sticks? A lot of it has to do with their tonality.
But when it comes to sales, why does tonality get put on the back-burner (or totally overlooked altogether)?
After all, nailing your tonality is the difference between getting 5 or 10 more seconds on the phone with a decision maker. It’s the difference between getting in good-graces with the gatekeeper – and getting PAST the gatekeeper. Weighted at 60%, your tonality is really the difference between making the sale or getting rejected. Period.
So your team has to focus on vocal delivery and tonality. Train them to speak with passion, emotion, and desire. And train them to get creative with their tonality. The last thing we want is to bore our prospects out of the sale.
Perception/Image = 35%
Why does perception/image matter? Because 35% of the sale hinges on it!
With that in mind, are you old enough (lucky enough!) to remember the classic Sprite commercials from the 90’s? You know, the one with Kobe Bryant…
“Image is nothing, thirst is everything, obey your thirst.”
Well, there’s no denying Kobe’s greatness and legacy. And as much as the message sounds good, I believe Sprite missed the mark here.
The truth is — image is everything. It’s everything in sales, and just about every industry. For example, what happens when our doctor calls and we pick up? Do we give them respect and reverence? Absolutely! “Hello Dr. so and so, yes, it’s great to hear from you. Yes, I understand. Great, thank you so much.”
Why? Because he or she has image on their side. They command respect because they are a subject matter expert to the highest degree — in this case, their expertise is the human body and medicine.
In the same way, what is our image as sales experts? If we truly are subject matter experts (SMEs), shouldn’t we command a certain level of respect as well?
And for the million dollar question… Can we bridge the gap between the image we have and the image we want?
The answer is a resounding YES. But a light switch has to switch on inside your mind and your team’s mind. The key here is confidence and “acting as if” you are a confident professional even when you don’t feel like it.
Some takeaways here – you should look clean, crisp, and professional. Your physical image should match your tonality. Now, I’m not saying you need to put on a 3-piece suit. But you should at least put on a golf shirt or, if you’re a woman, whatever the equivalent is to khakis and a polo.
Remember, your image is 35% of the equation here. That’s nothing to balk at. Have your team show up like they belong there, with a confident winner’s mindset and sharply dressed, and you’ll be surprised by how many more deals get closed.
Your Words = 5%
5% of the sale comes from the words you say.
Wait… that’s it? Just 5%? That means you don’t have to worry about the words at all, right?
Wrong.
The final 5% is important, it’s just not the most important.
The truth is, your team can make sales even with the most rudimentary vocabulary, as long as they are nailing their tonality and image. Words, at that point, are just icing on the cake.
Now imagine someone with a perfect handle on the English language, but their speech is monotone (no tonality) and they have very little confidence (no expert image). Do you think they’re closing deals. That’s a resounding NO. Not even close.
My point here is that tonality and image do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to selling. And trust me, this is VERY good news. Because thankfully, tonality and image can be mastered in a matter of weeks if you really buckle down and practice. Vocabulary, on the other hand, takes years and years to build.
To Sum it Up
Remember, it’s not WHAT you say, but HOW you say it. Also, the moment your prospect sees you or hears you, they will assign you an image in their mind. You are either a professional and someone they can trust, or you’re a phony.
If your speech is flat and monotone with little variance, you can plan for rejection, because it’s a comin’. But if you speak with confidence, passion, and you inspire your prospect, the deal is already 60% (or more) in the bag.
Now get out there and make it happen.
Until next time…
Johnny-Lee Reinoso