12 STEPS TO SELLING MORE ON THE PHONE.... How to Overcome Foot in Mouth Disease and Close More Sales and Make More Appointments
12 STEPS TO SELLING MORE ON THE PHONE.... How to Overcome Foot in Mouth Disease and Close More Sales and Make More Appointments
- by Leigh Farnell
LEARNING FROM A CHAMP
Lately, I’ve been watching an associate of mine on the phone. I’ve watched her go for it 100%. She achieves her outcomes 9 times out of 10. She is so focussed I can’t believe it.
So the other day I asked her, ‘How come you’re so good on the phone...?’ And like all champions, she was only too happy to reveal her secrets.
This is what she told me.
I never realised how a phone call could be such a military operation.
She asked, ‘how much of your business do you generate over the phone?’
I said, ‘about 99%’
‘There’s your answer’ she said ‘isn’t it worth planning a military operation if 99% of your income depends on it?’
I got the message.
1. WRITE DOWN THE PURPOSE OF THE CALL - 4 Keys
Rather than just pick up the phone and start talking, ask yourself these 4 questions:
1. ‘why am I making this call?’
2. ‘I’m not just returning a call, or ringing to say ‘G’day’, what is the commercial benefit of this call?
3. ‘ if this call was to be successful, what do I want to hear by the time I put down the phone?’
4. ‘For me to get that outcome, what do I need to say or do (that is legal, moral and ethical?
2. WRITE DOWN THE BENEFITS AND ‘WHY’S’ THE PROSPECT SHOULD AGREE WITH YOU
Everybody needs to be convinced. Everybody needs to know the benefits outweigh the costs. Everybody needs to know if they part with their hard earned cash they’re going to get far more in return than they paid.
Not everybody understands the benefits of your product or service as well as you. You need to have some very compelling reasons.
Have some good success stories you can use to convince your prospect why they should buy from you. Be a good story-teller. How do you do that? Practice telling the stories before you pick up the phone. It helps get you in the mood too.
3. WRITE DOWN THE PROSPECTS POSSIBLE OBJECTIONS AND ‘ESCAPE ROUTES’
An old mentor of mine told me once ‘Selling is like hunting. You have to stalk your prey. Think like your prey. Then cover all the escape routes...’
I used to think ‘oh, how tacky and ruthless. That’s not me..’ Well, I used to think that way until I missed the first 100 or so sales.... (Well, not quite 100, but it sure felt like it.)
The best way to overcome objections is to anticipate them and have great ways to turn them back round to your advantage. ‘How?’ I hear you ask. That’s the next step.
4. WRITE DOWN YOUR ANSWERS TO THOSE OBJECTIONS
Get your sales team together. List the top 10 objections you hear all the time. Then the next 5 really hard ones you get from time to time. Then come up with 3 different ways to deal with each of them. Then have objection handling practice at each team meeting. Not only will your team get better at handling objections, they’ll also become bullet proof confident in their presentations.
They’ll actually get to love dealing with objections.
Remember, one study showed you need to be prepared to ask for the order at least 6 times before you really do take ‘no’ for an answer. That means being a master at handling ‘no’s’ and other objections
5. GET YOURSELF IN A POWERFUL STATE
Your state of mind before and during a phone call is contagious. As Rex Hunt (Fishing and football legend) said on TV recently ‘95% of the game is played above the shoulders.’
So make sure you’re 110% focussed on your outcome and the benefits of your product or service. Remind yourself of some of the latest success stories your product or service has had with recent customers.
6. FOCUS ON YOUR DESIRED OUTCOME
What do you want by the time you put down the phone?
What do you want the clients to be saying?
What do you want to see in front of you? (A completed order form with credit card details?)
Visualise the successful outcome in your mind just before you pick up the phone.
7. REHEARSE YOUR KEY SELLING ‘WHY’ LINES
Rehearse your key selling lines out loud.
This will help get you in a power state.
It will also bring those key lines to the front of your mind.
You want these lines to just roll off your tongue with energy, power and conviction. Rehearse it that way too. I saw Tom Jones in concert the other night. Talk about energy, power and conviction. Every word that comes from his mouth is delivered with power and conviction. Every line is perfectly pitched. Tom Jones has rehearsed perfection so he can deliver with perfection. So can you.
8. REHEARSE YOUR OBJECTIONS AND ‘ESCAPE BLOCKS’
Now act as if you are an inquisitive, belligerent prospect
‘No I don’t think that’s for me..’
‘Well of course Mr Jones, most people say that when we first call them. In fact....’
Other people in your office might think you are going troppo - until they see your sales figures.
Great athletes practice.
Great athletes mentally rehearse before they race. Olympic and world 100m sprint champ Carl Lewis modelled Jesse Owens mental pre race strategy of imagining you are running over hot coals. (That way your feet don’t touch the ground for too long...) He won 4 Olympic golds and numerous World Championships. You can do the same. Imagine you are a world judo champ. Each time the prospect throws an objection at you, you roll with it and turn it back onto them (in a friendly, loving and helpful manner of course..)
9. GO FOR IT
Don’t sit around for too long rehearsing. You only make money when you pick up the phone to sell or deal with the prospect.
Take action. Do it. Be prepared to make mistakes. Don’t just sit there... dial up..
10. SET DAILY PROSPECTING TARGETS
Set a daily target for how many prospecting calls you will make.
Is it 10? 20? 30? 100? Set the goals. Then make a game of it. Set a time of day you will go for it. Block out the time. You will do nothing else except make those calls in that time period. Don’t let yourself off the hook. The comfort zone is brilliant at coming up with excuses at this stage. You take control.
11. KEEP BUILDING YOUR PROSPECT LIST
Have a prospect list. Make sure you always have 10, 20 or 50 prospects on that list. Review the list at the end of each day in preparation for the next day. Your subconscious mind can go to work on it while you sleep. Don’t laugh. It really does make a difference.
12. KEEP ASKING FOR REPEAT BUSINESS, REFERRALS AND TESTIMONIALS
If you want to build your business then you need to keep building your prospect list. How do you do that? Get referrals from your present happy clients. That means making sure you ring clients back up and ask ‘How is your new ....... Mr Jones?” then take it from there. If they’re happy say ‘Great to hear you’re really happy with our product. Do you know of anyone else in your work or family who might also want......?’
Who knows, if you don’t ask you don’t get.
Whatever the product life cycle for your product range is (one month, one year, 2 years, 10 years) make sure you keep in touch to get repeat business.
By the way, if the client is happy, ask for a written testimonial on their letterhead. There is hardly anything as powerful as a testimonial. And if you can show a folder full of testimonials, how can the prospect argue with that?
PICK UP THE PHONE AND SELL
I’m not saying these 12 steps will make you a world champion overnight. I am saying they will help you keep your feet out of your mouth (as they have with me) And if you can do that, I guarantee you will sell more.
I showed these 12 steps to my champion friend and she said ‘Well of course, that’s obvious...’
Sometimes champions think everyone should be able to be like them because it comes so natural.
I know I’ve got to work at it. I hope these 12 steps help you work at it too.
12 STEPS TO SELLING MORE ON THE PHONE How to Overcome Foot in Mouth Disease and Close More Sales and Make More Appointments - To learn more about this author, visit Leigh Farnell's Website.
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12 STEPS TO SELLING MORE.... or How to Overcome Foot in Mouth Disease
- by Leigh Farnell
LEARNING FROM A CHAMP
Lately, I’ve been watching an associate of mine on the phone. I’ve watched her go for it 100%. She achieves her outcomes 9 times out of 10. She is so focussed I can’t believe it.
So the other day I asked her, ‘How come you’re so good on the phone...?’ And like all champions, she was only too happy to reveal her secrets.
This is what she told me.
I never realised how a phone call could be such a military operation.
She asked, ‘how much of your business do you generate over the phone?’
I said, ‘about 99%’
‘There’s your answer’ she said ‘isn’t it worth planning a military operation if 99% of your income depends on it?’
I got the message.
1. WRITE DOWN THE PURPOSE OF THE CALL - 4 Keys
Rather than just pick up the phone and start talking, ask yourself these 4 questions:
1. ‘why am I making this call?’
2. ‘I’m not just returning a call, or ringing to say ‘G’day’, what is the commercial benefit of this call?
3. ‘ if this call was to be successful, what do I want to hear by the time I put down the phone?’
4. ‘For me to get that outcome, what do I need to say or do (that is legal, moral and ethical?
2. WRITE DOWN THE BENEFITS AND ‘WHY’S’ THE PROSPECT SHOULD AGREE WITH YOU
Everybody needs to be convinced. Everybody needs to know the benefits outweigh the costs. Everybody needs to know if they part with their hard earned cash they’re going to get far more in return than they paid.
Not everybody understands the benefits of your product or service as well as you. You need to have some very compelling reasons.
Have some good success stories you can use to convince your prospect why they should buy from you. Be a good story-teller. How do you do that? Practice telling the stories before you pick up the phone. It helps get you in the mood too.
3. WRITE DOWN THE PROSPECTS POSSIBLE OBJECTIONS AND ‘ESCAPE ROUTES’
An old mentor of mine told me once ‘Selling is like hunting. You have to stalk your prey. Think like your prey. Then cover all the escape routes...’
I used to think ‘oh, how tacky and ruthless. That’s not me..’ Well, I used to think that way until I missed the first 100 or so sales.... (Well, not quite 100, but it sure felt like it.)
The best way to overcome objections is to anticipate them and have great ways to turn them back round to your advantage. ‘How?’ I hear you ask. That’s the next step.
4. WRITE DOWN YOUR ANSWERS TO THOSE OBJECTIONS
Get your sales team together. List the top 10 objections you hear all the time. Then the next 5 really hard ones you get from time to time. Then come up with 3 different ways to deal with each of them. Then have objection handling practice at each team meeting. Not only will your team get better at handling objections, they’ll also become bullet proof confident in their presentations.
They’ll actually get to love dealing with objections.
Remember, one study showed you need to be prepared to ask for the order at least 6 times before you really do take ‘no’ for an answer. That means being a master at handling ‘no’s’ and other objections
5. GET YOURSELF IN A POWERFUL STATE
Your state of mind before and during a phone call is contagious. As Rex Hunt (Fishing and football legend) said on TV recently ‘95% of the game is played above the shoulders.’
So make sure you’re 110% focussed on your outcome and the benefits of your product or service. Remind yourself of some of the latest success stories your product or service has had with recent customers.
6. FOCUS ON YOUR DESIRED OUTCOME
What do you want by the time you put down the phone?
What do you want the clients to be saying?
What do you want to see in front of you? (A completed order form with credit card details?)
Visualise the successful outcome in your mind just before you pick up the phone.
7. REHEARSE YOUR KEY SELLING ‘WHY’ LINES
Rehearse your key selling lines out loud.
This will help get you in a power state.
It will also bring those key lines to the front of your mind.
You want these lines to just roll off your tongue with energy, power and conviction. Rehearse it that way too. I saw Tom Jones in concert the other night. Talk about energy, power and conviction. Every word that comes from his mouth is delivered with power and conviction. Every line is perfectly pitched. Tom Jones has rehearsed perfection so he can deliver with perfection. So can you.
8. REHEARSE YOUR OBJECTIONS AND ‘ESCAPE BLOCKS’
Now act as if you are an inquisitive, belligerent prospect
‘No I don’t think that’s for me..’
‘Well of course Mr Jones, most people say that when we first call them. In fact....’
Other people in your office might think you are going troppo - until they see your sales figures.
Great athletes practice.
Great athletes mentally rehearse before they race. Olympic and world 100m sprint champ Carl Lewis modelled Jesse Owens mental pre race strategy of imagining you are running over hot coals. (That way your feet don’t touch the ground for too long...) He won 4 Olympic golds and numerous World Championships. You can do the same. Imagine you are a world judo champ. Each time the prospect throws an objection at you, you roll with it and turn it back onto them (in a friendly, loving and helpful manner of course..)
9. GO FOR IT
Don’t sit around for too long rehearsing. You only make money when you pick up the phone to sell or deal with the prospect.
Take action. Do it. Be prepared to make mistakes. Don’t just sit there... dial up..
10. SET DAILY PROSPECTING TARGETS
Set a daily target for how many prospecting calls you will make.
Is it 10? 20? 30? 100? Set the goals. Then make a game of it. Set a time of day you will go for it. Block out the time. You will do nothing else except make those calls in that time period. Don’t let yourself off the hook. The comfort zone is brilliant at coming up with excuses at this stage. You take control.
11. KEEP BUILDING YOUR PROSPECT LIST
Have a prospect list. Make sure you always have 10, 20 or 50 prospects on that list. Review the list at the end of each day in preparation for the next day. Your subconscious mind can go to work on it while you sleep. Don’t laugh. It really does make a difference.
12. KEEP ASKING FOR REPEAT BUSINESS, REFERRALS AND TESTIMONIALS
If you want to build your business then you need to keep building your prospect list. How do you do that? Get referrals from your present happy clients. That means making sure you ring clients back up and ask ‘How is your new ....... Mr Jones?” then take it from there. If they’re happy say ‘Great to hear you’re really happy with our product. Do you know of anyone else in your work or family who might also want......?’
Who knows, if you don’t ask you don’t get.
Whatever the product life cycle for your product range is (one month, one year, 2 years, 10 years) make sure you keep in touch to get repeat business.
By the way, if the client is happy, ask for a written testimonial on their letterhead. There is hardly anything as powerful as a testimonial. And if you can show a folder full of testimonials, how can the prospect argue with that?
PICK UP THE PHONE AND SELL
I’m not saying these 12 steps will make you a world champion overnight. I am saying they will help you keep your feet out of your mouth (as they have with me) And if you can do that, I guarantee you will sell more.
I showed these 12 steps to my champion friend and she said ‘Well of course, that’s obvious...’
Sometimes champions think everyone should be able to be like them because it comes so natural.
I know I’ve got to work at it. I hope these 12 steps help you work at it too.
12 STEPS TO SELLING MORE ON THE PHONE How to Overcome Foot in Mouth Disease and Close More Sales and Make More Appointments - To learn more about this author, visit Leigh Farnell'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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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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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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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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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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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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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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