This past Sunday, I attended “The Greatest Show on Grass."

Not the Super Bowl. (I couldn't care less about either team. Sorry New England and Seattle fans.)

I was at The Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament. Actually it’s more of a huge party of about 100,000 people where golf is going on in the background.

And the craziest part of the party is the 16th hole, where 20,000 fans pack into a stadium setup and turn a golf shot into a spectacle.

Now here's what that has to do with your sales calls:

When you open a conversation with a prospect, you're competing for attention against every other salesperson who called that day.

And most of them sound exactly the same:

"We help companies improve [vague thing]."
"We provide solutions for [generic problem]."
"We work with organizations like yours to [boring description]."

That's not a show.
That's background noise.

If you want to be "The Greatest Show" in their inbox or voicemail, or in their mind in real time, you need to pass one simple test:

The "So What?" Test.

Because if they have to wonder why they should care after hearing your opening...

You're just another voice in the crowd.

Here's the brutal truth about prospecting calls:

Prospects don't care what you do.

They care what changes for them if they listen to you.

And most salespeople fail this test in the first 10 seconds because they describe their solution instead of the outcome.

The difference? Everything.

Every value proposition, whether it's in your opening, your email, or your voicemail, needs to pass what I call The "So What?" Test.

Here's how it works:

Say your value prop out loud, then immediately ask: "So what?"

If you can't answer that question from the prospect's perspective in one clear sentence, your value prop is garbage.

Let me show you.

Weak (fails the test): "We provide cloud-based workflow automation software."

So what?
(Silence. You don't know. They don't know. Nobody cares.)

Strong (passes): "We help ops teams cut approval cycles from 3 days to 3 hours—without adding steps or changing systems."

So what?
"That means faster decisions, fewer bottlenecks, and people stop waiting on approvals to get work done."

Weak: "We're a management consulting firm specializing in operational efficiency."

So what?
(Again—nothing. Just consultant-speak.)

Strong: "We help COOs eliminate the 2-3 recurring breakdowns that eat 15-20% of their capacity—without launching another improvement initiative."

So what?
"That means more output, fewer fire drills, and you're not constantly fixing the same problems."

Weak: "We're a leading supplier of industrial maintenance products."

So what?
(Yawn. Every supplier says this.)

Strong: "We help plant managers reduce unplanned downtime by fixing the 3-4 predictable failure points before they cause shutdowns."

So what?
"That means fewer emergency calls, more uptime, and production stays on schedule."

Because they're built around what you do, not what changes for them.

Here's the formula most people follow (and it's wrong):

That's not a value proposition.
That's a Wikipedia description of your company.

Let's break it down:

Pull out your current opening statement, email template, or voicemail script.

Run it through The "So What?" Test:

Then test it on a colleague.

If they have to ask "what does that mean?"—you failed.
If they say "oh, so it helps with [problem]"—you passed.

Prospects don't buy what you do.
They buy what changes for them when you do it.

If you can't pass The "So What?" Test, you're just adding to the noise.

If you can, you're one of the few who actually sounds like you have a reason to call.

(From the July 2009, Telephone Prospecting and Selling Report)

Sometimes you’ll reach a point in a call where it becomes clear:

They’re not a prospect today.

No urgency.
No initiative.
No compelling reason to change right now.

Most reps either push harder… or give up entirely.

Professionals do something different.

They look forward.

Because even if someone isn’t a prospect today… they might be tomorrow.

And your job is to understand when — and what would need to change — for that to be true.

So instead of forcing something that isn’t there, let them define the future.

Ask questions like:

These questions do something powerful.

They get prospects thinking in possibilities instead of limitations.

And if they can visualize those future changes… that’s the first step toward eventually considering them.

Because timing isn’t always “no.”

Sometimes it’s just “not yet.”

If anything, this principle matters more now than when I first wrote it.

Buying cycles are longer.
Committees are bigger.
Budgets are tighter.
And more decisions get pushed down the road.

Which means you’ll hear “not now” more often than ever.

And how you handle that moment determines whether you create:

Most salespeople treat “not now” as a loss.

Professionals treat it as intelligence gathering.

They want to know:

Because when you understand the future… you position yourself inside it.

So when circumstances do change…

You’re not a stranger calling out of the blue.

You’re the person who understood the situation before it was obvious.

And that changes the entire conversation.

Small language habits can quietly undermine your professionalism…even when you know your stuff. (I did an entire issue on that, with 26 words and phrases I’m banning.)

Here are three communication mistakes that weaken your message and lower the prospect's perception of you:

1. Ending sentences with "...and stuff" or "...and things like that"

Example:
"We help with workflow automation and stuff."

What it sounds like:
"I don't really know what else we do, so I'm filling space with vague words."

Fix:
Cut the filler. Be specific.

"We help with workflow automation—specifically approvals, routing, and audit trails."

2. Using "thing" when you should be specific

Example:
"It's a thing that helps you track orders."

What it sounds like:
You're lazy or don't understand what you're selling.

Fix:
Replace "thing" with descriptive, visual language.

"It's a dashboard that shows every order in real time—status, location, and delays."

Action step: Record a few of your calls (or Zoom meetings). Count how many times you say "thing." Then rewrite those sentences with concrete terms.

3. Using "goes" or "says" instead of "said" when quoting someone

Example:
"So I asked her what she's using now, and she goes, 'We're still on the old system.'"

Or:

"Then he says to me, 'We're not interested.'"

What it sounds like:
Casual. Unprofessional. Like you're telling a story at a bar, not conducting business.

Fix:
Use "said" or "told me."

"I asked what she's using now, and she said, 'We're still on the old system.'"

Much cleaner. Much more professional.

The Bottom Line:

Your words either build credibility or quietly erode it.

Eliminate filler.
Be specific.
Sound like a professional, not someone winging it.

That’s a wrap for this week… oh, wait…I’d love to hear from you. Reply and let me know what you liked, what you’d love to see in future issues, or any prospecting or sales challenge you’re facing.

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Go make it your best week ever!