A
re
you utilizing the telephone the way you should? Is the phone a convenience
item in your sales organization that allows you to occasionally call or be
reached by business contacts? Or is it an essential tool that you cannot
do without, something you use to reach out and try to touch over 100
potential customers a day?
The
intelligent sales professional knows that the more tools in the sales
arsenal the better. That is the reason many sales organizations have added
entire telephone sales departments to their companies. It’s simply
easier and more effective to reach large volumes of people over the phone
lines than an individual could do in a single day cold calling on the
street. The phone, to some, is merely an appointment setter. But others
create entire lucrative deals over their phone headset, culminating in
signed contracts submitted via fax. The ISO of tomorrow might be someone
who never leaves his home or office, except to close occasional special
deals in which the client requires their presence.
So
how do you make the phone work for you? To have some control over this,
give yourself a daily quota of calls you have to make that you plan to
live by. A figure such as 100 to 120 calls per day sounds like an
aggressive goal, but it can be easily reached. Plan on doing 60 to 80
calls per day when sales are happening or there is extra paperwork. A
structure around how many calls you make is essential to being successful.
You can even tweak this structure to include how many minutes per call you
would like to have and how many proposals per day get sent to prospects.
Try
not to sound “scripted” or “canned.” Try to make each call sound
fresh. Be yourself. There are a couple of ways to assure this happens.
First, know who you are calling and who is the correct decision making
individual before you start a conversation. (Why waste your breath talking
with the wrong person?)
Next,
ask if it is a good time for you to be calling to talk about either your
service, or a way that they are going to be able to increase their
profits. If possible, relate a business contact they may be familiar with
who is using your program. Tell them about how many years your company has
been in business. To make certain you sound unscripted, I recommend that
you occasionally tape your side of the conversation and listen to yourself
deliver your pitch. This is an invaluable sales tool, as you can observe
your tone of voice, pace of speech and overall message delivery. Is there
any room for change?
By
now you have your foot in the door and are on your way to creating a
proposal. But that doesn’t guarantee the sale. What will bring you
closer to the close is the rapport you must build with the client over the
phone. The good news is that once you get started it’s not unlike
regular sales where your customers are in front of you.
First,
get them talking about themselves and their business. Remark on recent
events in the news that might affect their company or be of interest to
them. Let them know important information about your company such as if
you have 24-hour customer service, approval ratings, claims processing,
and other things that will help their business be successful. Speak as the
authority on the subject that you are—but don’t forget to listen to
the prospect and also address their concerns. Before changing topics or
hanging up, make sure you ask, “Is there anything we haven’t talked
about that you find important and would like to discuss?” You will be
surprised at how often the customer has many things they would like to ask
about-but may not have if you hadn’t given the opportunity.
After
addressing their questions, it’s a natural time to go for a close.
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1995-2000
The Green Sheet, Inc.
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