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Improve How Your Sales Force Sells by Phone

Guest post by: Dave Kurlan

Article Overview: If your salespeople are unable to interest their prospects there is zero chance of reaching the goal for the call which, depending on the salesperson's role, could be anything from a qualified lead to a scheduled appointment to a transactional sale.

Improve How Your Sales Force Sells by Phone



Getting salespeople to recognize how badly they sound and how ineffective they are when selling on the phone isn't easy. And just so you know who I'm talking about (and to save you from commenting about how these nuances are different) I'm including prospecting, cold-calling, telemarketing, telesales, inside sales, inbound marketing, outbound marketing and lead gen roles as "selling on the phone".

There are two methods that I prefer to use:

1. Have them make a call to me and then I make the call to them and we compare the two calls. After the comparison, I help them optimize their tonality, content and strategy.
2. Method #2 works best if we have already conducted method #1. Have them record their calls. At least, after method #1, they should have a better sense of what they are comparing their calls to. Without method #1, they may recognize how bad they sound, but rarely will they recognize how ineffective they are.

In most calls, the first 10 seconds are the worst and it only takes the first 10 seconds for a prospect to make these three crucial decisions:

BE ATTENTIVE OR IGNORE? RESPOND OR GRUNT? ENGAGE OR HANG UP?

In this day and age, there isn't much of a chance to get prospects to be attentive and engage unless your salespeople sound great and ask effective questions at the right time. And if prospects don't have a reason to be attentive and engaged, they can't make the next decision:

INTERESTED OR NOT INTERESTED?

If your salespeople are unable to interest their prospects there is zero chance of reaching the goal for the call which, depending on the salesperson's role, could be anything from a qualified lead to a scheduled appointment to a transactional sale.

One problem that most salespeople have is that they mistakenly attempt to go from Hello to Interested in one move. That's like trying to go from start to check-mate in one move in Chess. Or putting for an Ace from the Tee Box! You can try to do it all day long but it won't ever work.

If you're working with salespeople who must do at least some of their selling on the phone, observe and listen to how they sound and what they say in the first 10 seconds. Put yourself in their prospects' shoes. Would you choose to be attentive, engage and be interested? If not, the work starts right there.

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Article Tags: appointment, better sense, crucial decisions, hspace, images, li li, marketing, nuances, prospects, right time, salespeople, salesperson, telemarketing, zero chance



Related Forum Posts
How do i answer the phone? - I learned this technique from a successful businessman who earns over a million dollars a year. He just uses his name like this... Phone rings... " This is Dwayne..." It kind of throws people off who have a preplanned script and gets right into it. Phone rings... " This is Dwayne..." No Hello, no good morning/afternoon/evening Phone rings... "This is Dwayne..."
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz] I second the request...
Re: Can you read body language and convert it into a sale? - I can definitely read their mood by how they speak on the phone. You can usually also tell by the way they respond to the things you are saying. Phone sales aren't as easy as when you see them in person, but I still believe their tone can tell a lot.
Re: Does birth order influence the desire to start a business? - I am the eldest in a polygamous family. In Africa where I come from, we are allowed to marry many wives. My mother is the first wife among six others. I am the first born and I am into business and all my other 22 siblings are business people too apart from the second born who is in the Police Force.


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