When my now-adult kids were in junior high, they went through a stage where everything I said about someone was attacked with an exasperated,

“DAD! Quit being so judgmental!”

Usually, it was something so minor as,

“Wow, who dressed that guy this morning?” when seeing someone wearing a striped button-down shirt, plaid shorts, calf-high white socks and sandals. 

I do it. You do it. THEY did it…even though they wouldn’t admit it. (Teenage girls can be hypocritically brutal when talking about someone they don’t like… anyway…)

The point for us as salespeople, is that we are being judged with the first sounds someone hears when we call… either live or voicemail. (Actually, for those who use those inane dialers, when they are met with that awkward couple of seconds of silence, the assessment has already been made.)

And, when those sounds are judged negatively, even a good message struggles to reverse that judgment.

We invested quite a bit of time talking about what we SAY in the first 20 seconds of a call to create interest, and avoid resistance.

Today we’ll cover what is even more important as it relates to how you are judged:
the way you sound.

Here’s something that might be a little uncomfortable.

You could have the perfect Smart Calling opening.

The right intel.
A strong Possible Value Proposition.
A clean transition into your question.

…and still lose the prospect in the first two seconds.

Not because of what you said.

Because of how you sounded when you said it.

Your prospect’s brain processes tone, pace, and energy before it processes language.

That’s not theory. That’s how the brain works.

Sound first. Words second.

And in those first couple of seconds, the brain is asking:

“Does this person belong in this conversation?”

If the answer is yes… they relax. They listen. The door stays open.

If the answer is unclear… the guard goes up.

And now your perfectly structured opening is trying to climb over a wall that was already built before you finished your first sentence.

You’ve experienced this yourself.

You answer the phone and within two seconds you know it’s a sales call.

Not because of what they said.

Because of how they sounded.

The rushed pace.
The forced enthusiasm.
That slightly too-eager tone that says, “I need something from you.”

Your brain made the decision before the words even landed.

Now here’s the part most people miss.

Two people can say the exact same opening and get completely different reactions.

One sounds like a professional having a business conversation.

The other sounds like a salesperson hoping to get attention.

Same words. Completely different outcome.

The difference is tone, pace, and presence.

So what can you do about this right now?

Two simple things.

First, slow down slightly.

Not dramatically. Not artificially.

Just enough to remove urgency from your voice.

Because rushed speech communicates one thing:

“I need this to go well.”

And that lowers your perceived status instantly.

Professionals don’t sound rushed.

They sound comfortable.

Like they’ve done this a thousand times… and they’re fine either way.

Second, pay attention to your inflection.

When your voice goes up at the end of a statement, it turns it into a question. (Read this as if I am asking a question instead of stating who I am confidently.)

“Hi, this is Art with Smart Calling?”

That’s uncertainty.

You’re not asking who you are. You’re telling them.

Downward inflection communicates confidence.

Period. Not question mark.

Try this.

Say your opening out loud twice.

Once with your voice going up at the end.

Once with it going down.

You’ll hear the difference immediately.

So will your prospects.

Now here’s the deeper truth.

Tone isn’t something you can just turn on.

It’s a byproduct of how you’re thinking when you make the call.

If you’re thinking, “I hope they don’t hang up…” that comes through.

If you’re thinking, “Let’s see if this makes sense…”that comes through too.

Your voice follows your mindset.

And your prospect hears the mindset before they hear the message.

That’s what we’ll get into next week.

Because there are specific things most salespeople do with their voice, without even realizing it. Things that quietly lower their perceived status on every call.

And once you hear them, you can’t un-hear them.

For now, here’s your assignment.

Record your next five openings.

Just the first 20 seconds.

Then listen back as if you were the prospect hearing it for the first time.

Most people are surprised.

Not because they’re bad.

Because there’s a gap between how we think we sound…

and how we actually sound.

That gap is worth closing.

And it starts with hearing it.

Go make it your best week ever!