Magic Words That Grow Your Influence and Increase Sales with Phil M. Jones

Phil M. Jones breaks down the psychology of scripted language, question frameworks, and conversation structure for mortgage and real estate professionals. He shows how specific word choices and question sequences eliminate objections before they arise and earn the right to make a recommendation. LOs who want to close more consultatively and stop winging client conversations should listen.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Replace 'do you have any questions?' at the end of every presentation with 'what questions do you have for me?' — this signals confidence, not gaps, and when they say none, assume the yes and move to next steps immediately.
• Use the phrase 'the next steps are…' instead of asking for the sale. Say: 'The next steps are, we complete a simple application — we can do that now via DocuSign or I can grab some basic details over the phone.' Then lead into it without asking permission.
• When a prospect asks 'what's your rate?', interrupt the pattern with: 'We have dozens of products ranging from X to Y depending on individual circumstances. What do you understand about the different types of mortgage providers in your area?' Then present three options (bank, direct lender, independent broker) and close with: 'Are you looking for just the cheapest rate, or someone who understands your full circumstances?'
• Replace 'would you be open-minded to?' with 'how open-minded would you be?' — the slight reframe removes the yes/no trap and invites the prospect to lean into the possibility themselves.
• Build your recommendation using banked evidence from the conversation. Before presenting anything, confirm you can complete this sentence: 'Because of the fact that you said [A], [B], and [C] — for those reasons, what I recommend is [X].' If you can't fill in A/B/C, you're pitching, not advising.
• Run every key client conversation through three ingredients in order: Curiosity (ask questions to understand their context before inserting your content) → Empathy (see the world through their eyes; care about what they care about) → Courage (ask clearly for the business, the information, or the next step). Skipping to courage without the first two is just pushing.

The playbook

1. 1. Open with curiosity: ask questions that reveal context, not just product preferences. Example: 'How soon would you hope to own your home outright?' instead of 'Fixed or variable?'
2. 2. Bank evidence throughout the conversation — note every stated priority, constraint, or preference verbatim.
3. 3. Destroy the likely objection before it surfaces by asking questions that make the objection contradict something they already said. (e.g., 'I bet you're a bit like me — come home, pour a glass of wine, sit on the couch…' to pre-empt 'we don't eat on the furniture.')
4. 4. Earn the right to recommend: when you have three or more banked evidence points, open your recommendation with 'Because of the fact that you said [A], [B], and [C]…'
5. 5. Close the presentation by asking 'What questions do you have for me?' — not 'Do you have any questions?'
6. 6. Assume the yes and transition with 'The next steps are…' — state them matter-of-factly and lead the process forward.

Worth quoting

“Your content without context is only ever noise. Nobody needs more noise in their life.”

“The person asking the questions is in control of the conversation.”

Best for

LOs who wing client consultations and lose deals to 'I need to think about it' — this episode gives them the exact language to prevent that.