Tips for Client Telephone Interviews

It's not a common practice, but a number of clients are using telephone interviews as a step in their procurement process. It saves money but can cost you plenty if you're not prepared for the special nuances involved in making a good impression over the phone.

There are a number of drawbacks in doing telephone interviews, the most significant being the lack of visual contact. This eliminates nonverbal communication, which comprises over half of the message sent and received in face-to-face conversation. It's important to take steps to compensate for this missing element in your dialogue with the client. Here are a few tips:

Do "blind" rehearsals. Phone interviews are variously constructed depending on the client's preferences. But most offer you the opportunity to prepare in advance, whether it's making a brief presentation or responding to questions that are revealed in advance (or that you anticipate being asked). Much as you would in rehearsing for a typical shortlist interview, you want have team members practice delivering their message or response. Only in this case, the audience should be sitting facing the opposite direction, hearing the speakers without the benefit of visual contact. This enables them to better sense how it will be experienced by the client.

Tip: Better still, do your rehearsal over the same speakerphone you will be using for the interview, with your test audience listening in from a different location. That's a truer test of what the client will hear, and can help you identify the need for steps such as better mic positioning or removing background noise.

Vary your voice tone. A monotone delivery should always be avoided, but it's particularly annoying when heard over the phone. Without the benefit of facial expressions, it's up to voice tone to give your words context and feeling. Make sure you sound enthusiastic and confident, but avoid speaking so loud that it garbles your voice at the other end.

Tip: Stand up. Use body movement and gestures as if the audience was present in the room. This will naturally give your voice tone a boost. (A good quality wireless headset is recommended.)

Punctuate your points. In coaching presentation teams, I often have to encourage them to add "contours" to their talk. This involves giving your presentation a clear structure, with key points easily distinguishable from supporting information. This is particularly critical in a telephone interview, since without visual feedback the key points can be readily missed. 

Tip: One simple way to accomplish this is to enumerate your key points. For example, say, "There are five primary steps we will take to ensure cost control. First... Second... (etc.)."

Periodically review what you've said. A reasonable amount of repetition is advised to increase your audience's retention of your key messages. You should identify 3-5 key messages in advance of the interview, critical points that you think are most important—and that you want the client to remember after the interview.

Tip: At every transition in your talk or conversation (junctures when you move from one topic or segment to another), quickly review the main points of the last segment (or the previous segments).  

Be concise. This is another universal principle of good communication that is especially important over the phone. People are more likely to tune you out or be distracted when listening over the phone versus in person. Don't give them a reason to by saying more than needs to be said.

Tip: Make this a point of focus in your rehearsals: Getting to the point without unnecessary elaboration. Have your test audience listen for wordiness and point out where the message could be delivered with greater efficiency.

The Problem with Selling

There is a fundamental flaw in how most architecture and engineering firms market and sell their services: The focus is on the seller rather than the buyer. We know this intuitively but aren't sure what the alternative is. If we are to contemplate a better approach, it's advisable to first characterize the problem with the current method.

When I do sales training, I always start by asking participants what their immediate impressions are when I mention the word salesperson. As you would expect, their responses are overwhelmingly negative. Common descriptions include fast-talking, aggressive, self-centered, deceptive, dishonest. The prominent impression is that salespeople are more concerned about their needs than the buyer's needs.

The assessment is harsh and probably unfair to most sellers. But the perception is real, and you dare not ignore it when selling your firm's services. Why? Because if the prevailing image of salespeople is negative—and various surveys show that selling is the most distrusted profession—is there any reason to think that prospective clients view you differently when you're in the sales role?

It works but needs to work better. Of course, you can argue that you're making sales. So are other salespeople. But wouldn't you like to find a better way? There's an interesting contradiction I've observed over the years. Most technical professionals are a bit uncomfortable in a sales role because of the stigma attached to it. Yet when I've accompanied them on sales calls, I've witnessed the very behaviors that they say they dislike about salespeople—talking too much, not really listening, focusing on themselves rather than the buyer.

How can this be? They don't have another model to follow. Selling in our profession is naturally patterned after the selling we've observed elsewhere and have perpetuated in our firms for decades. Plus it's worked. Until recently, most A/E firms were doing quite well using the traditional approach to business development. But I would argue that the old way isn't good enough anymore in the wake of the Great Recession.

Motives matter. Why are salespeople so distrusted? Trust is built on an understanding that both parties have the interests of the other in mind. Fair or not, most of us seem to think that salespeople are generally more concerned about their own interests. Perhaps it's the long tradition of unwarranted cold calls, pushy sales pitches, lack of complete candor, and pretending to care. What's interesting is the fact that most people love to buy, but we don't trust the motives of those hired to help us buy.

Is this relevant to your firm? Well, when does interest in selling peak in your office? Is it not when you really need the business? If that's what primarily motivates you and your colleagues to get out and sell, don't think that clients don't notice. Here are some common sales behaviors that reinforce the notion that you're not acting in their interest:

• Cold calls for the simple purpose of introducing your firm
• Sales conversations that focus on talking about your firm's qualifications
• Scheduling sales calls primarily for your convenience ("I'm going to be in your area...")
• Disregard for providing value for the client's time
• Using nontechnical salespeople who lack the skills to address client needs
• Asking for information without offering help or advice
• Marketing predominantly for self-promotion
• Proposals that focus on your firm rather than the client or project

The Golden Rule is a good starting place. Every buyer is different, so it's necessary that you learn what you can about what he or she wants and expects. But generally you'll do well to apply the Golden Rule—treat buyers the way you like to be treated when you're in the buying role. This involves flipping the focus from yourself to the buyer.

Let me encourage you to evaluate every facet of your business development process in this regard. You'll find many tips for buyer-centered selling by clicking on the links above and using this blog's search bar. Client focus is a popular theme among A/E firms these days, yet it's rarely evident in how we develop new business. It's time to break the mold and shed the stigma about selling. Do a better job serving buyers' interests and see how that ultimately better serves your own.