In a recent article I likened using a “telephone meeting” as a way to bring your sales game to a Super Bowl level.

Phone meetings, also known as telephone appointments, summon our best game. If we obtain a phone meeting with a qualified buyer it is akin to starting from our own end zone and completing a 50-yard play to midfield.

Why is it such a game changer? Three reasons:

(1) It focuses the prospect on our message, which only occurs reluctantly during cold calls. (2) It is an implicit concession on the part of the prospect that what we have to say has value; otherwise, why would he or she carve out 15-45 minutes of their precious time? (3) And it also promises that the prospect will give our chat a fair evaluation, given he has consented to listen to it, and not to prejudge.

These are tremendous pluses, and really, half our work is done when we have set the phone appointment.

But how do we earn it?

We have to persuade someone to set aside time, and that is a sale in its own right. The only legitimate reason for a prospect to give us time is that we are promising to use it effectively. We’re going to INFORM them about something they need to hear.

This can also be done by email. Today, for instance, I was contacted by an Australian business that wants to build its web design company, by phone. They mentioned they’re using a dysfunctional script. I sent them a note with this offer: “Let’s have a look at what you’re using. I’ll review it and get back to you.”

That focused our discussion on pragmatics, what they’re doing well, and what they need to improve. Once they sent me the script, they were ego-involved in hearing my expert analysis.

In effect, though no money passed hands, they were already “clients.”

I was halfway to scoring, which in this case meant selling them my audiovisual training bundle, which includes script editing.

Seek your phone meeting with the promise that they’ll hear valuable information and receive special assistance. Framed well, it is probably an offer they’ll find hard to refuse.

.Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top-ranked negotiation speaker, telemarketing speaker, and customer service speaker at Google, and a distinguished, sought-after sales speaker, motivational speaker, and attorney. President of Customersatisfaction.com, he is a frequent TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books and more than 1,700 articles that appear in 25,000 publications. President of Customersatisfaction.com, Gary conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. His new audio program is Nightingale-Conant’s “Crystal Clear Communication: How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech & Writing.” His web site is:http://www.customersatisfaction.com, and professional speaking, seminar, and consulting invitations can be addressed to:gary@customersatisfaction.com.