A sales call is a fast furious exchange that must be commanded like a driver commands his racecar. When you get the customer on the phone, much like a driver you are battling distractions and fears—distractions from multiple priorities, other lenders, fears of the process, and potentially the largest financial transaction of their life. Getting a closing in this environment like a winning a race, you have to keep the car (customer) on a distinct, clear path that maximizes your forward momentum to a closed deal. Using assumptive language can help you command the call and keep the customer on track.

You should reset your expectations on every call. Assume the sale! Gain commitment from the customer, cut through the surrounding distractions, and strike out their fear by assuring them you are in control and guiding them.

How do you do that? Take out the words and phrases that make the process and path unclear, like: could, if you would like, if you want to, maybe, can you. Replace them with strong, clear, directing phrases, like: when, let’s go ahead, I’m/your going to, we need to, let’s move forward.

Let’s look at a couple of deal killers versus deal closers:

No deal: Would you like me to call you back?
Deal: I’m going to call you back at …, and here’s what I will need from you?

No deal: If you are ready to mover forward…
Deal: When we move forward?

No deal: What do you think?
Deal: At this point we need to get your loan in process, and to do that we need to…

As you can see it is a fine line and subtle language that is the difference between losing traction on the closing turn and wiping out the deal and staying in tight control and pulling away with a closing.

Control the call by assuming the sale and you will win more deals.