The C.A.R.E. Presentation System

A friend of mine recently shared a system that she was taught working in a successful telephone selling program. She was very successful with it and it fits perfectly with the Servant Selling Philosophy. C.A.R.E. stands for Connect-Attract-Respect-Engage.

Connect- This is just an attempt to establish a personal connection with the individual you are speaking with. Different people do this different ways. When I'm on a face to face sales call I always look for something in the prospects office that I genuinely like, admire, or am interested in. It could be a book, a picture, a decorating item, the architecture or design of the building... anything. I will usually make a comment, give a compliment, or ask a question. On one call I absolutely loved the neck tie the guy was wearing. I complimented him on it and he took it off on the spot and gave it to me. I walked out with a contract and a tie that I wore for several years.

Attract- This is sharing a lead idea or sample. It's like the headline of a newspaper or a really well designed advertisement. It must be something that is attention getting in a positive way.

Respect- Respect is recognizing that everyone won't be interested. The timing, the chemistry, or the fit may just be a little off. It's releasing the prospect to make a decision not to do business with you and doing that without a struggle. You just move on to the next one.

Engage- If the prospect shows interest, you move on into the buying process. It many mean giving a fuller presentation or just writing up the order on what you presented in the attract step.


This is a simple 4 step plan that will work for selling a lot of things. Whatever you sell, you need a repeatable outline that is flexible enough to accomodate the many directions a sales call can go. Give the C.A.R.E. plan a try.