There are 5 basic principles of doing proper 3-way calls. Here what they are:

1. Edify the Expert - You need to speak from your heart and explain to the prospect how much you admire and respect your Director. You need to stress how lucky you are to find a "spot" in your Director's schedule, and how busy and in-demand they are. Your prospects don't have an opinion of your Director until you GIVE IT to them. If you sound genuinely grateful to be working with your Director, and respectful of your Director's time, your prospect will hear that in your voice, and they will respect your Director too. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!! You are setting the tone for the entire call. Practice edifying and complimenting people all around you, so you can get comfortable having that "Attitude of Gratitude" towards your Director, and mean it.



2. Edify your Prospect to your Director - Okay.. this step seems unimportant to some people, but it's actually very important. This is your chance to talk about the prospect ina positive way and show them you have been listening to them and genuinely care about them. Tell your Director what your prospect does for a living, what their dreams and goals are, how excited they are about Coastal and what it can do for them. Focus on saying things that will make your prospect feel proud. They need this boost to feel comfortable in the presence of your Director.



3. Introduce - This is a formality, but it breaks the ice. "Joe, this is my Director, Bob. Bob, meet Joe."



4. SHUT UP!!! Okay, that sounded harsh, but I wanted to make sure you saw this part. If you truly respect your director, then you will hang on every word he/she says, and you would never dream of interrupting. If they truly are the "expert", then what they have to say is very important, and you will not want to take away from that. I don't care how much you know, or how much better you think YOUR answer is, keep it to yourself. This is one of the most damaging things new associates do on 3-way calls. They want to put in their own 2 cents, but in doing so, they prove they have no respect for their Director. This is really bad, because the prospect gets their opinion from you. So if you show lack of respect, so will they. You need to set up the correct posture and respect to help your Director close this sale for you. Don't ruin it by speaking when you shouldn't. Zip your Lips!



5. Thanks - If you truly have the "Attitude of Gratitude", you will be grateful for the time your Director has given you, and you will make sure to take the time to say that at the end of the call, in front of your prospect, to remind them just how lucky they are. This is very important. You worked hard to edify and express your feelings about how much you respected your Director at the beginning of the call... but this is where it really shows. If you don't sincerely thank your Director for his/her time, then you just proved that you don't really respect them, and that all the things you said during the edification weren't true. Saying thank you is natural if you truly respect someone. Make sure you say thanks.

Note: You will know if you have done a good job during the edification and thanks if your prospect butts in at the end to give sincere thanks to your Director as well. That is the sign that you had perfect posture and did a perfect 3-way!

Congratulations! You've devleoped proper etiquette, and have mastered the art of effective 3-way calls!