I thought about introducing this topic with my usual story telling analogy or my second favorite devise - dialogue.  But, I want to set a tone that speaks of the seriousness with which this topic needs to be discussed.

I've been observing sales calls for a long time and, lately, I've become more and more dissatisfied with the dialog coming from our side of the table.  Our words sound rehearsed and they lack passion.  But, something else is missing and its taken awhile for me to figure it out.

What is missing is relevance.  Relevance is a term used to describe how pertinent, connected, or applicable something is to a given matter.

In sales, relevance means that when the customer says something to you about their needs, objectives or desires, you say something back that is connected to that which they just said.  The key to coming up with something relevant is listening and understanding.  While researching this topic, I ran across a thesis written by Deirdre Wilson and Dan Sperber on Relevance Theory (I told you this was serious!).  Here is an excerpt::

When is an input relevant? Intuitively, an input (my note: usually what you say) is relevant to an individual when it connects with background information he has available to yield conclusions that matter to him: say, by answering a question he had in mind, improving his knowledge on a certain topic, settling a doubt, confirming a suspicion, or correcting a mistaken impression.

We are sitting with a prospect and he has just asked a question about our capabilities.  Our response must be an answer to the question or it lacks relevance.  A client expresses doubt about the value of radio advertising.  Our response must settle his doubt.  A prospect expresses a belief that our competition is overpriced.  Our response should confirm the suspicion.

These examples seem pretty obvious but an examination of what we actually do on a sales call will show that irrelevance is rampant. 

Example #1: 

Client:  We operate a subscription based website.  The most important objective for our marketing is to increase our subscriptions.
Us:  Radio advertising can do that for you.

Client:  I'm not sure how.  You see, we are interested in acquiring subscribers world-wide so advertising in individual cities doesn't seem like the best way for us to spend our money.
Us:  Well, let me tell you about an event we have that draws 25,000 people to downtown Atlanta.

The client has expressed doubt and we have launched into a product presentation.  Our downtown event is irrelevant until the client has agreed that spending money to grow his subscription base locally has some value.

Example #2:

Client:  We would like to hire one of your on-air hosts to be our spokesperson.  I realize that Steve Harvey hosts your highest rated show but we're under the impression that he is too controversial for us.
Us:  Let me tell you about Steve Harvey.  He is the number one rated radio personality in the country.  He is a best-selling author who has appeared on Oprah twice in the last three months.  His comedy tour sells out and he has taken our station from nowhere to the top of the ratings in less than two years. 

The client has what we would consider to be a mistaken impression.  However, our response doesn't address their concern and even though the information we have provided about Steve would be compelling to most clients, it is irrelevant to this client.  We would be better served by discussing the extraordinarily well-respected clients who have put their faith in Steve.  For example: "Steve is a national endorser for Coca-Cola and Ford.  He passed a rigorous examination by both clients who were insistent on finding someone that could effectively represent and enhance their brands."

We need to do a better job of listening carefully to our clients and prospects, making sure we understand what they are saying and then craft a relevant response that creates a positive cognitive effect.  Now, we are getting deep into Relevance Theory and I may have exceeded the bounds of your curiosity on the subject. 

If not, please check out the article I quoted above or, at the very least, focus on connecting what you are saying to that which has been said to you.