n integral component of your selling game is your voice. It is the initial tool one uses when making that all-important first impression. What impression is your voice making?

Just as you hone your sales skills, you need to develop a voice that sells. In an industry where face-to-face meetings are the exception rather than the rule, sales professionals don't have the luxury of presenting visual aids to support sales pitches.

Their voice is their only instrument. If you want your voice successfully singing the praises of your products and services, consider the following before you make that next sales call:

• Tone it Down ... or Up. Whether it's loud and brash or meek and monotone, prospects will react strongly to an annoying sound. Their likely reaction: to hang up. A more moderate but still vibrant tone that modulates in pitch will produce a more desirable reaction.

• Speak into the Mike. Grab your pocket tape recorder and make a recording of your sales-call presentation before you dial the phone. Play it back, keeping in mind that your prospect will hear exactly what you've recorded. Now may be the time to go back and re-dub!

• Practice Your Pitch. Rather than skim through the morning paper, turn on your tape recorder and read aloud from any article in your normal speaking voice. Now, reread the article with more emphasis, impact and feeling. Compare the two. Which one sounds more confident and convincing? Which one delivers the message?

• Fine Tune. Think of your voice as a stereophonic signal. Your mind is the mental control panel. Volume can be loud or soft. Speed can be fast or slow. Energy can be up or down. However you adjust it, remember that if your prospects hear a signal that is irritating and static-filled, they'll change the station. If your signal comes across crisp and clean, they'll stay tuned.