Turn incoming calls into sales & profits
Turn incoming calls into sales & profits
Techniques to gain and retain customers
The person answering the telephone and talking with the customer / prospect plays a major rule in determining the success or lack of success of the organization. You must accept responsibility for providing timely customer service in a courteous business manner.
Applying the telephone customer service skills in this white paper will help you and your organization become a professional provider of quality customer service that will gain and retain customers for a lifetime of profits.
Telephone Skill 1: Answering the telephone:
68% of customers leaving a business leave because of lack of caring expressed or lack of perceived caring from you or someone in the company.
Callers begin to form their impression of your organization by:
A. The number of rings it takes to get an answer
B. The first voice they hear
Answering Techniques
A. Answer the telephone within the first three rings
B. Greet the caller
C. State your organization’s name and your name
D. Offer assistance, invite questions.
Use friendly phrases
• Thanks for calling.
• How may I help you?
• How are you today?
Example: “Good morning, Sales Growth Now. This is Bob Janet, how may I help you?”
This is also a good time to ‘source track’ – If the caller is a first time caller ask them where they heard about your organization. The old saying of a failed business goes, “I always knew 1/2 of my advertising worked, I just never knew which 1/2.”
Telephone Skill 2:
A… Listening for selling opportunities:
Your organization is in the business of selling products and services. Most customers telephone because they have a problem or need your products and services will solve. All you have to do is listen and identify the problem / need they have and match your products and services to them.
1. Listen to what the customer is saying. They are either (a) making a statement about their problems/needs,
(b) giving you an objection to something they have already purchased or
(c) asking you a question concerning their problems/needs.
2. Think about what they are saying. Think about what your organization has to offer the customer to solve their problem/need. If you are 100% Customer-Centered* you want to solve their problem/need the easiest way for them, but that does not mean you cannot sell them your products and services.
3. Make suggestions in the form of choices. Choices of your products and services that will solve their problem/need. Giving choices is the easiest way to ask for the sale. Giving choices (a) gives the customer the feeling of control, and people buy and buy more when they feel they are in control and (b) makes it easy for the customer to choose to buy from you instead of your competition.
Always Smile!!
Face-to-face your voice accounts for only 33% of your effectiveness.
In a telephone greeting your voice accounts for 84% of your effectiveness.
B…Listening for closing statements:
After you offer suggestion in the form of choices of products/services, listen for the customer to make a closing statement. Examples: “That will work.” “I never thought of that.” “How much will that cost me?” “How soon can you deliver?” Any positive statement made by the customer, after you gave them a choice of solutions to their problems/needs, is a closing statement.
Sure, not all closing statements by the customer will close the sale, but as one of the coaches to the famous hockey player Wayne Gretzky said to him when he was frustrated with Gretzky’s lace of shooting in an important game, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”
Telephone Skill 3: Asking questions:
Be eager to help the caller. Be animated.
Make the caller feel welcome. Make them feel they are the most important person in your life. If you are 100% Customer-Centered* they will perceive they are the most important person in your life at that time.
Ask questions that will help the caller explain the problems/needs they have. Questions that give you an understanding of exactly what they want and need from your organization.
Example: “Mr. James, what is it about the ____________ that I can help you with?”
Mr. James, you said you need your _________ repaired. How old is your __________?”
So I can better help you, what exactly are your needs for a ________________?”
*100% Customer-Centered – Means that everything you say and do is about the customer
not about and for the customer, not you or you organization.
Telephone Skill 4: Furthering the sale:
If you do not sell them over the telephone, further the sale by making an appointment to meet with them, having an outside sales professional telephone or meet with them, or asking their permission to send information. Always give the prospect a choice. It gives them the feeling of control, and they cannot say “no” if given a choice. For example: “Would you like to meet with me Monday or Tuesday?” If they do not choose one of the times continue to give them choices.
Turn incoming calls into sales profits - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Janet's Website.
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Professional Telephone Answering:
Techniques to gain and retain customers
The person answering the telephone and talking with the customer / prospect plays a major rule in determining the success or lack of success of the organization. You must accept responsibility for providing timely customer service in a courteous business manner.
Applying the telephone customer service skills in this white paper will help you and your organization become a professional provider of quality customer service that will gain and retain customers for a lifetime of profits.
Telephone Skill 1: Answering the telephone:
68% of customers leaving a business leave because of lack of caring expressed or lack of perceived caring from you or someone in the company.
Callers begin to form their impression of your organization by:
A. The number of rings it takes to get an answer
B. The first voice they hear
Answering Techniques
A. Answer the telephone within the first three rings
B. Greet the caller
C. State your organization’s name and your name
D. Offer assistance, invite questions.
Use friendly phrases
• Thanks for calling.
• How may I help you?
• How are you today?
Example: “Good morning, Sales Growth Now. This is Bob Janet, how may I help you?”
This is also a good time to ‘source track’ – If the caller is a first time caller ask them where they heard about your organization. The old saying of a failed business goes, “I always knew 1/2 of my advertising worked, I just never knew which 1/2.”
Telephone Skill 2:
A… Listening for selling opportunities:
Your organization is in the business of selling products and services. Most customers telephone because they have a problem or need your products and services will solve. All you have to do is listen and identify the problem / need they have and match your products and services to them.
1. Listen to what the customer is saying. They are either (a) making a statement about their problems/needs,
(b) giving you an objection to something they have already purchased or
(c) asking you a question concerning their problems/needs.
2. Think about what they are saying. Think about what your organization has to offer the customer to solve their problem/need. If you are 100% Customer-Centered* you want to solve their problem/need the easiest way for them, but that does not mean you cannot sell them your products and services.
3. Make suggestions in the form of choices. Choices of your products and services that will solve their problem/need. Giving choices is the easiest way to ask for the sale. Giving choices (a) gives the customer the feeling of control, and people buy and buy more when they feel they are in control and (b) makes it easy for the customer to choose to buy from you instead of your competition.
Always Smile!!
Face-to-face your voice accounts for only 33% of your effectiveness.
In a telephone greeting your voice accounts for 84% of your effectiveness.
B…Listening for closing statements:
After you offer suggestion in the form of choices of products/services, listen for the customer to make a closing statement. Examples: “That will work.” “I never thought of that.” “How much will that cost me?” “How soon can you deliver?” Any positive statement made by the customer, after you gave them a choice of solutions to their problems/needs, is a closing statement.
Sure, not all closing statements by the customer will close the sale, but as one of the coaches to the famous hockey player Wayne Gretzky said to him when he was frustrated with Gretzky’s lace of shooting in an important game, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”
Telephone Skill 3: Asking questions:
Be eager to help the caller. Be animated.
Make the caller feel welcome. Make them feel they are the most important person in your life. If you are 100% Customer-Centered* they will perceive they are the most important person in your life at that time.
Ask questions that will help the caller explain the problems/needs they have. Questions that give you an understanding of exactly what they want and need from your organization.
Example: “Mr. James, what is it about the ____________ that I can help you with?”
Mr. James, you said you need your _________ repaired. How old is your __________?”
So I can better help you, what exactly are your needs for a ________________?”
*100% Customer-Centered – Means that everything you say and do is about the customer
not about and for the customer, not you or you organization.
Telephone Skill 4: Furthering the sale:
If you do not sell them over the telephone, further the sale by making an appointment to meet with them, having an outside sales professional telephone or meet with them, or asking their permission to send information. Always give the prospect a choice. It gives them the feeling of control, and they cannot say “no” if given a choice. For example: “Would you like to meet with me Monday or Tuesday?” If they do not choose one of the times continue to give them choices.
Turn incoming calls into sales profits - To learn more about this author, visit Bob Janet's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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