Turn Inquiries Into Solid Sales
Turn Inquiries Into Solid Sales
The Introduction
Typical opening: Good morning, ABC Company.
The caller will now ask a question and basically take control of the transaction. It's best to answer the call with a question.
An effective approach: Good morning (smile, it can be heard in your voice). Thank you for calling ABC Company. This is Mary Stevens, how may I help you?
By thanking your prospect you build rapport and make her feel good that she called your company. By identifying yourself, prospects are no longer dealing with an institution, they are now working with a “real person.” Then, by asking a question you are taking control of the conversation. In a transaction of any kind, the person that asks the questions is in control of the process.
The Inquiry:
Customer: What is your price on one grundle of your 301 Widgets in black,?
Typical response: I’ll have to look that up. Just one moment please. . . The price is $ _______ for a minimum order of one grundle.
A better approach: I’d be glad to give you the pricing on Widgets, but may I first ask, are you looking for an overnight delivery on the entire qrundle or are you planning to receive them in incremental shipments?
First you make a statement to transition into other questions.
Customer: Well, I’m looking to get the best price I can find.
Typical response: Well, our prices are competitive. A grundle in black costs $ ______ if shipped as a whole.
A more effective approach: Where are you purchasing your Widgets at this time?
Now use additional questions like this one to find out more about the customer and her specific needs. Here are a few samples to review:
• Does your present supplier offer a price break on your shipping approach?
• How do you use this style of widget in your production?
• If you felt you could get a competitive price on a grundle of black widgets andpossibly
lower your shipping costs, would you consider purchasing our 301s?
• Tell me about your specific Widget storage situation at your production facility?
Take some time after finishing this learning guide to write down some questions that you might ask about your products or services. Keep this list of questions where you can use them during future price inquiries. Refer to your list often until the questions are firmly set in your mind and are used on a regular basis.
The Close
Typical close: Well our prices are competitive and we’d love to do business with you.
Best approach: We have several approaches to help you get the best pricing and delivery on Widgets, but I need to take 15, no more than 20 minutes to discuss them with you. Would it be possible for you to come into our plant or we could have a representative meet you at your office so that we could discuss these options further?
Realistically, many of your callers will decline your offer of assistance. Most prospects will just push you for your prices and then hang up. However, from time to time, this approach will strike a chord with a prospect. This caller will sense that you really care about his needs and will be willing to let you set an appointment.
Even though this approach may only attract a few new customers or clients out of the hundreds of people who call for information, over a period of several months, these few will begin to add up to a significant number. And remember, these are customers and accounts that may never have been attracted to your company if you had just given the caller your prices.
By putting a time frame of 15 no more than 20 minutes on your meeting with the prospect, your offer of help will appeal to more of these callers. People are concerned about time, so by setting a time frame for them, you help to reduce their concerns.
The fear of sounding foolish or being rejected may keep you from doing much more than giving out prices. But for true professionals, the approach outlined above can help you to establish new accounts (or sales) over a year's time, simply because you took the time to show an interest in the needs of your caller.
Turn Inquiries Into Solid Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Virden Thornton's Website.
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The first few minutes of an incoming telephone call are critical if you want to turn an inquiry about your company's products or services into a long term customer relationship. Research shows that you only have about seven seconds in which to take charge of the call and capture the prospective customer or client's attention. If you don’t gain immediate control of the conversation you could lose the chance of developing business for your company. The following examples show you how key phrases can turn a common, every day price inquiry into a selling situation, that in turn produces a new customer for your company or firm.
The Introduction
Typical opening: Good morning, ABC Company.
The caller will now ask a question and basically take control of the transaction. It's best to answer the call with a question.
An effective approach: Good morning (smile, it can be heard in your voice). Thank you for calling ABC Company. This is Mary Stevens, how may I help you?
By thanking your prospect you build rapport and make her feel good that she called your company. By identifying yourself, prospects are no longer dealing with an institution, they are now working with a “real person.” Then, by asking a question you are taking control of the conversation. In a transaction of any kind, the person that asks the questions is in control of the process.
The Inquiry:
Customer: What is your price on one grundle of your 301 Widgets in black,?
Typical response: I’ll have to look that up. Just one moment please. . . The price is $ _______ for a minimum order of one grundle.
A better approach: I’d be glad to give you the pricing on Widgets, but may I first ask, are you looking for an overnight delivery on the entire qrundle or are you planning to receive them in incremental shipments?
First you make a statement to transition into other questions.
Customer: Well, I’m looking to get the best price I can find.
Typical response: Well, our prices are competitive. A grundle in black costs $ ______ if shipped as a whole.
A more effective approach: Where are you purchasing your Widgets at this time?
Now use additional questions like this one to find out more about the customer and her specific needs. Here are a few samples to review:
• Does your present supplier offer a price break on your shipping approach?
• How do you use this style of widget in your production?
• If you felt you could get a competitive price on a grundle of black widgets andpossibly
lower your shipping costs, would you consider purchasing our 301s?
• Tell me about your specific Widget storage situation at your production facility?
Take some time after finishing this learning guide to write down some questions that you might ask about your products or services. Keep this list of questions where you can use them during future price inquiries. Refer to your list often until the questions are firmly set in your mind and are used on a regular basis.
The Close
Typical close: Well our prices are competitive and we’d love to do business with you.
Best approach: We have several approaches to help you get the best pricing and delivery on Widgets, but I need to take 15, no more than 20 minutes to discuss them with you. Would it be possible for you to come into our plant or we could have a representative meet you at your office so that we could discuss these options further?
Realistically, many of your callers will decline your offer of assistance. Most prospects will just push you for your prices and then hang up. However, from time to time, this approach will strike a chord with a prospect. This caller will sense that you really care about his needs and will be willing to let you set an appointment.
Even though this approach may only attract a few new customers or clients out of the hundreds of people who call for information, over a period of several months, these few will begin to add up to a significant number. And remember, these are customers and accounts that may never have been attracted to your company if you had just given the caller your prices.
By putting a time frame of 15 no more than 20 minutes on your meeting with the prospect, your offer of help will appeal to more of these callers. People are concerned about time, so by setting a time frame for them, you help to reduce their concerns.
The fear of sounding foolish or being rejected may keep you from doing much more than giving out prices. But for true professionals, the approach outlined above can help you to establish new accounts (or sales) over a year's time, simply because you took the time to show an interest in the needs of your caller.
Turn Inquiries Into Solid Sales - To learn more about this author, visit Virden Thornton'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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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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