You might think that the Internet has killed the sales call. But in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, sales calls and other outbound prospect’s activities have become even more important as a result of how much time we all spend on websites, blogs and social media sites. After all, you can’t sell something if no one ever finds out that you exist!
With the rise of artificial intelligence and virtual assistants, you may also assume that calling prospects is so last century. But what AI and voice recognition software won’t do is build trust with your customer or get them excited about your product or service. The key to making a great sales call is being prepared. The more you know about your prospect before you dial their number, the easier it will be to form a genuine connection and accelerate the sale. Here are some helpful tips for selling over the phone
Know your audience
If you don’t know who you’re talking to, you’ll have a much harder time building the necessary trust. Make sure that you have at least some basic information about the person you’re calling, including: – Their name – you’ll want to use their name a lot during the conversation. This is a simple way to break the ice. – Their company name. This will give you an idea of their role and responsibilities within the organization. – Any other content you can find about them, such as interviews, articles, etc. The more you know, the easier it will be to jump right in with a commonality or something you know they’ve written or said.
Be transparent about your intentions
You want to make sure that your prospect knows that you’re not trying to sell them something right away. Instead, you want to give them the opportunity to talk about themselves and their business. Ask questions that go beyond the usual “what do you do?”, such as: – What’s the biggest challenge that you’re facing right now? – What are you most excited about in your industry right now? – What’s the most important thing you want to get done this week? By getting the prospect to talk first, you’re showing them that you’re genuinely interested in their success and well-being. This is a great foundation for trust and a sale down the road.
Set the agenda
If your prospect doesn’t know why you’re calling them, the call will feel like a cold call or spam call – which most people hate. The best way to prevent this is to set an agenda for your sales call, including: – Why you’re calling and who you’re calling. Let your prospects know who you are and why you’re calling them specifically. – What you want to get out of the call. Know what you want to accomplish during your sales call. This could be an appointment, a certain type of response or even just gathering more information about the prospect.
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Establish credibility and trust
After the initial call agenda, you want to start building a foundation for trust by asking your prospect some questions about themselves and their business. Then, you can start talking about yourself and your company. Before you do this, you may want to prepare some talking points, such as: – Why are you in this business? – What’s your company’s history? – What’s your company culture like? – What problems or issues are you solving for your customers? You can weave these into your conversation naturally and they’ll help you to avoid sounding like a scripted salesperson.
Close the deal
You want to try to get the prospect to agree to the next step in the sales process as quickly as possible. Here are some things you can do to speed up the process: – If you’re calling about a specific product or service, ask your prospect if they’d like to talk to someone about it. Then, you can hand them off to the appropriate person. If you’re calling about speaking at an event, ask your prospect if they’d like you to come talk. If you’re selling a product, ask your prospect if they’d like to buy it. If you’re selling a service, ask your prospect if you can help them with something.
Wrapping up
The key to making a great sales call is being prepared. The more you know about your prospect before you dial their number, the easier it will be to form a genuine connection and accelerate the sale. The best way to do that is to know who you’re calling, why you’re calling them and what you want to achieve during the call. Then, you can start to build a foundation for trust, ask your prospect some questions, and set the agenda for what you want to get out of the call. Finally, you can close the deal and make the sale as quickly as possible.
