TeleSales Pro

Effective Selling Over The Phone

Jim

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Cold Calling | Selling Over The Phone

If you are new to Selling Over The Phone the thought of Cold Calling may send shivers up and down your spine. As a matter of fact, cold calling in-person or over the phone is probably one of the hardest types of sales calls to master.

So what is a Cold Call?

A cold call is contacting a potential customer without an appointment, a referral, or any previous introduction of yourself or company. The prospect is unaware you are coming and you are approaching them cold.

Why is this so scary for many salespeople?

It really depends on the person, but the major reason most find it frightening is due to the immediate prospect of rejection and the potential for confrontation. Even if these perceived threats are real or not, it can be a stressful situation.

You can lower your resistance to cold calling by coming to grips with the fact that it’s a matter of perception, usually your perception.

Be Prepared Before You Make A Cold Call

Most of the apprehension you feel before a cold call is a direct result of not being prepared. This means you need to be up to the challenge which usually means feeling confident that you can handle anything that comes up.

Think about the reasons you are making the call in the first place and understand them clearly. You have to focus on the goal of your sales call. If you are trying to set up an appointment, don’t try to convince the prospect how great the product or service is, it will get done at the appointment.

Write down your goal and what concessions you are willing to make. In the case of trying to get an appointment you must be flexible with your schedule so you can accommodate the prospect.

Clearly identify each step in your sales process for the cold call and make a list. After you’ve made a list, decide how you’ll conduct the conversation for each step.

When it comes to Cold Calling Over The Phone, you can have a script in front of you. This is a HUGE advantage, you can bet the prospect doesn’t, so use it to focus on the end game.

For each of the items on your list, identify any questions that will help you define what your customer wants and how you can accomplish your goal. The questions you ask will form a template so you can build a killer sales pitch. Figure out the leading questions you need to ask.

Anticipate all of the possible objections and write out your response for each one and have them in a binder in front of you for easy access. If you don’t like binders use any method you like. I have actually pinned over 20 pages of pitch and objection responses on the wall of my office, do whatever it takes to be prepared.

Depending on the type of product or service you are offering, a sales presentation will flow in different directions. Rarely is there a one-size-fits-all sales presentation and you’ll need to be able to go in the direction that will end in you achieving your predefined goal.

You must understand your product or service and be ready to answer every question that is asked with confidence. When you get objections, and you will, your ability to neutralize them will enable you to control the conversation.

Controlling the conversation with your prospect will be key to your success. It’s your agenda and if you lose control you’ll get only what the prospect wants, you’ll be dancing to their drum!

If you do everything you can to prepare yourself, you will look forward to Cold Calling and it will be one of your most useful selling skills.

When you realize how important Cold Calling is when you’re Selling Over The Phone, you will embrace the technique and actually look forward to making cold calls. As you get more comfortable, the confidence in your voice will echo down the telephone connection and you’ll be hooked and so will your prospect.

Jim

Telesales-pro.com is primarily concerned with B2B Telesales. Selling over the Phone to business is a highly specialized activity and depends on many Sales Techniques specific to Telesales.

Whether you are looking for Sales Jobs or Sales Leads, TeleSales-Pro exists to provide you with valuable Sales Tips and Resources.

If you are trying to build your Sales Skills, improving your Telephone Sales Skills will give you a great foundation in Sales. After all, as salespeople, we all want to be Selling more.

Learning to Sell over the Phone will help you understand the Sales Process and will enable you to improve your overall Sales Negotiation Skills.

If you have any comments, feel free to comment about anything you read on telesales-pro.com. If you want to contact me you can email me: jim@telesales-pro.com

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Sales Presentations

Sales Presentations are commonly, in the sales business, called Sales Pitches.

As a novice, you’ve probably had to watch different salespeople go through a presentation in the field as a training exercise. If you sell over the phone you may have been subjected to recordings of sales calls.

Observing a presentation is a powerful training tool but the exercise is usually intended to show the trainee that the product or service for sale can be and is being sold.

There is really not that much difference in the process an effective sales pitch follows. A person may be selling face to face or selling over the phone. A Sales Pitch will be structured with the same basic elements.

Depending on the product or service, a salesperson may use different styles or techniques to motivate a buyer to take the desired action, but the steps will follow a tried and tested road-map.

Anyone can give a sales presentation and anyone can get a sale, but if you want consistent results, as many smart sales managers demand, you must use a method that has the greatest chance of success.

I’m not talking about luck either. I am talking about methods that have stood the test of time and measurement.

Every product or service that has ever been sold by a person will have its unique features and benefits that must be explained in order to get the order. But again, every pitch will have a common series of events, steps, or elements.

Elements of Effective Sales Presentations

This is a general outline and does not focus on the subtle differences between a cold or warm sales call, a retail environment or a field sales call etc…

The ability to give a great sales presentation is one of the most essential selling skills you will master.

Introduction

I will also assume that the individual being pitched is a qualified potential lead. Your goal is to deliver the following information:

  1. Who you Are.
  2. The Company you Represent.
  3. A reason to Trust You and Your Company or Service.

You must also:

  1. Confirm that the Prospect is The Decision Maker.
  2. Inform The Prospect of a Feature or Benefit that Creates Urgency.

The very first impression you deliver must convince the prospect that you are reputable and relevant. This is a crucial step and many salespeople fumble badly.

Your goal is to be short, sweet, and to the point, without any largess. The straight facts only. This should only take 60 seconds at the most but is not to be misconstrued as some sort of Elevator Pitch.

Your intro should be something you have written yourself and repeated at least 6 times perfectly without aid, exactly the same, word for word, every time.

An Introduction has to be presented in a Positive and Enthusiastic Manner.
Inspire Your Potential Customer TO WANT TO KNOW MORE!

I will be offering a series of Sales Presentations in PDF format that you can tailor to your specific needs.

Jim

Telesales-pro.com is primarily concerned with B2B Telesales. Selling over the Phone to business is a highly specialized activity and depends on many Sales Techniques specific to Telesales.

Whether you are looking for Sales Jobs or Sales Leads, TeleSales-Pro exists to provide you with valuable Sales Tips and Resources.

If you are trying to build your Sales Skills, improving your Telephone Sales Skills will give you a great foundation in Sales. After all, as salespeople, we all want to be Selling more.

Learning to Sell over the Phone will help you understand the Sales Process and will enable you to improve your overall Sales Negotiation Skills.

If you have any comments, feel free to comment about anything you read on telesales-pro.com. If you want to contact me you can email me: jim@telesales-pro.com

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Preparation Skills

If you want to be ready to sell anything to anyone you had better have excellent Preparation Skills.

Like a Boy Scout, you always need to be prepared.

The sign of a good salesperson is their level of preparedness. They appear confident because they’ve done their homework.

As selling skills go, your Preparation Skills will get better over time and help you overcome any objections raised in a sales call.

Sometimes salespeople exhibit an uneasy feeling when they go into a sales call. It’s usually due, in large part, to the fact they aren’t ready to talk to anyone about the products and/or services they are selling. They haven’t taken the necessary steps to be ready.

It’s easy to blame Sales Managers for this situation but if you want to make money, get yourself ready to do battle and find a way to get the knowledge you need. So what kind of homework should you do?

Knowledge Base

Build a Knowledge Base that you can refer-to and add-to over time. You should collect essential information about your products and/or services which you will use to your advantage.

Find out who uses your products and/or services. The more concise this package is, the better prepared you will be. Here are a few items you should build for your Knowledge Base:

  • Product Knowledge

    • They say information is power and knowing your product is essential to your success.

    • Features and Benefits

      • Learn everything you can about your product or service. The most successful salesperson is usually the go-to-person when someone has a question. You BE that person.

    • Purpose

      • What problems does your product solve?

    • Differentiate

      • What makes your product special?

    • Competitive Advantage

      • What makes your product better than other similar products in the market?

  • Overcoming Objections

    • Find out what customers common objections are and then collect and understand the answers to the objections. Develop a list of Frequently Asked Questions and the Answers.

  • Customer Profile

    • It is important to know who buys your products and/or services and why. The more information you have about the buyer, the easier it will be to identify a Prospective Client.

    • Demographics

      • The buyers of your products will all have common traits and will fall into identifiable categories. Know what they are and collect any information you can find.

    • Organization Chart

      • If you sell into businesses, find out how the organization is structured, where the decision to buy is made, and who makes it.

    • Testimonials

      • Know what clients say about your company, it’s products, services, and you. Collect this information and put it into a presentable format that can be shown to your prospective client.

As a Professional Sales Person, you should build a Knowledge Base that will serve you well. Collect documents and information and put it where you have quick and easy access. Maybe a special binder or accordian folder will serve the purpose. Whatever way you decide make sure it provides you with the tools you will need.

These Preparation Skills will help you be a better Salesperson.

Jim

Telesales-pro.com is primarily concerned with B2B Telesales. Selling over the Phone to business is a highly specialized activity and depends on many Sales Techniques specific to Telesales.

Whether you are looking for Sales Jobs or Sales Leads, TeleSales-Pro exists to provide you with valuable Sales Tips and Resources.

If you are trying to build your Sales Skills, improving your Telephone Sales Skills will give you a great foundation in Sales. After all, as salespeople, we all want to be Selling more.

Learning to Sell over the Phone will help you understand the Sales Process and will enable you to improve your overall Sales Negotiation Skills.

If you have any comments, feel free to comment about anything you read on telesales-pro.com. If you want to contact me you can email me: jim@telesales-pro.com

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Organization Skills

Your Organization Skills can determine your effectiveness in any sales job. If you know what is going-on, you can have more control of the whole sales process.

So how do you accomplish being organized and what tools can help you?

The first step is to break it all down into bite sized chunks so you can identify the exact process that leads to your payoff.

Obviously, each type of sales job will have specific requirements for the type of information you’ll want to gather and track, but there are basic categories common to all kinds of sales.

Many salespeople have a method to collect and update contact information. Some use a rolodex or card-file but in this technologically driven world, information is mostly being collected, stored, and accessed using some form of electronic device.


The computer has escaped the confines of the IT department and moved onto our desks, laps, and into our pockets. It really does make information retrieval easy, and face it, information is power and instantly available information will improve your selling skills.

Even though it may seem trivial; talking about being organized, you should keep information about everything you do.

Even though I believe computers provide the best solution, there are salespeople that still swear-by pen, paper, and the personally developed systems they use. It doesn’t matter if it works for you and enables you to stay on top of your game.

The abundance of software available makes the collection of any information totally user friendly. You may have your favorite system but they should all be easy to update.

Jim

Telesales-pro.com is primarily concerned with B2B Telesales. Selling over the Phone to business is a highly specialized activity and depends on many Sales Techniques specific to Telesales.

Whether you are looking for Sales Jobs or Sales Leads, TeleSales-Pro exists to provide you with valuable Sales Tips and Resources.

If you are trying to build your Sales Skills, improving your Telephone Sales Skills will give you a great foundation in Sales. After all, as salespeople, we all want to be Selling more.

Learning to Sell over the Phone will help you understand the Sales Process and will enable you to improve your overall Sales Negotiation Skills.

If you have any comments, feel free to comment about anything you read on telesales-pro.com. If you want to contact me you can email me: jim@telesales-pro.com

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Persuasion Skills

Do the best salespeople have the best Persuasion Skills?

Maybe, maybe not, but being able to persuade a prospect to buy your goods or services is definitely required for success in any type of sales position.

The Art of Persuasion is Selling and The Science of Selling is Persuasion.

When a salesperson effectively persuades a prospect into becoming a client, a repeat client, it is seen as their main attribute.

Effective Persuasion in sales is what makes a salesperson successful.

The power to persuade is not a mysterious gift and everyone I know, at one time or another, has been convincingly persuasive. I’m sure you can name many people yourself.

Your Persuasion Skills can be learned and developed. If you want to be successful selling over the phone, learning to convince your prospective customer to buy from you is essential to your success.

The moment a sale is made your customer service skills will require a different kind of persuasion. A smart salesperson will learn to maintain and nurture customer relationships. Many salespeople fail miserably.

When you want a person to do something, it’s necessary to understand the process and the prospect, otherwise you’ll be fighting an uphill battle.

The skill to persuade is often mistaken for the art of misleading people. Not true, although, like anything else, certain selling skills can be used for deceptive purposes. As a professional salesperson, you should always try to have empathy and sell with integrity.

At every turn in our lives, we are persuaded to make decisions. If you think about what influences your decisions, you will realize that there are some common factors that play an important role in every decision.

If you examine the buying decisions you’ve made, it should become apparent what strategies work. After all, we are all different but we are all basically the same.

Jim

Telesales-pro.com is primarily concerned with B2B Telesales. Selling over the Phone to business is a highly specialized activity and depends on many Sales Techniques specific to Telesales.

Whether you are looking for Sales Jobs or Sales Leads, TeleSales-Pro exists to provide you with valuable Sales Tips and Resources.

If you are trying to build your Sales Skills, improving your Telephone Sales Skills will give you a great foundation in Sales. After all, as salespeople, we all want to be Selling more.

Learning to Sell over the Phone will help you understand the Sales Process and will enable you to improve your overall Sales Negotiation Skills.

If you have any comments, feel free to comment about anything you read on telesales-pro.com. If you want to contact me you can email me: jim@telesales-pro.com

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Prospecting Skills

Developing good Prospecting Skills will enable you to find potential buyers of the product or service you are selling.

You may work in a sales job where the customer comes to you and you may not have to find leads or you may have a job where your company provides all the leads.

Even if you work in an environment, like a car dealership where prospects walk into the lot or showroom, there can be a huge opportunity for the salesperson that can generate qualified leads over and above the walk-in traffic.

However, most people in sales will need to prospect for potential clients.

You may fall into one of the following categories.

  • Your Company provides leads but you are expected to get more,
  • You manage an account list and are required to develop New Business,
  • You are responsible to find all your own leads.

Finding people interested in buying your product and/or service can be easy if you follow a basic system and use the resources we talked about in the Preparation Skills section.

You have a Customer Profile, so use it! It has clues to help determine where you can find information about potential buyers of your goods and/or services.

The Features and Benefits of the product and/or service you’re selling, will also help you identify how and where to find prospects.

The better you are at prospecting, the more gold you’ll find.

Lead Generation Techniques

The act of Prospecting for clients is commonly referred to as Lead Generation. Most good companies will control where and how salespeople approach potential clients. It’s a matter of marketing. Your Prospecting Skills will enable you to find leads for any situation making you more marketable.

An effective sales organization will make sure that sales effort is not duplicated. Duplication can be a huge problem when there are many salespeople.

Telesales Operations are especially difficult to control in this regard and management will tightly control existing accounts, geographic markets, and individual lead generation.

Any approach to Lead Generation will usually have to be vetted by a sales manager to make sure that the market is being sold-to in an efficient and effective manner.

The ideas expressed here can be adapted to suit your specific circumstance. I am going to assume that you have control over this area of your business, and even if you don’t, Lead Generation must be one of the selling skills you have in your bag of tricks.

So where do you find leads? Here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

  • Existing Customers

    • One of the most under-utilized methods of Lead Generation is tapping your existing client base. Any good salesperson will tell you they get a lot of business from referrals.

    However, the majority of salespeople never even ask a client if they know of someone that would like the product or service they get from you.

    As a matter of fact, many salespeople get business from referrals they didn’t ever ask for themselves. What does that tell you? Ask every client for a referral.

  • Prospects Themselves

    • Every time you talk to a prospect, whether you pitch them or not, the last thing out of your mouth should be a request for a referral.

    Even if you have been turned down by a person, nine times out of ten, they will be only too happy to give you the name of someone they think might buy from you! It’s a way for them to at least give you something.

  • The Internet

    • I am too old to have had the luxury of the internet for my whole sales career but that hasn’t stopped me from using it for Lead Generation.

You can basically find anything online and by learning how to use the Internet effectively, your prospecting will be raised to a level you never imagined.

I will be adding much more depth in this section of TeleSales-Pro.com. Come back often and check out the additional content so you can keep building your Prospecting Skills.

Jim

Telesales-pro.com is primarily concerned with B2B Telesales. Selling over the Phone to business is a highly specialized activity and depends on many Sales Techniques specific to Telesales.

Whether you are looking for Sales Jobs or Sales Leads, TeleSales-Pro exists to provide you with valuable Sales Tips and Resources.

If you are trying to build your Sales Skills, improving your Telephone Sales Skills will give you a great foundation in Sales. After all, as salespeople, we all want to be Selling more.

Learning to Sell over the Phone will help you understand the Sales Process and will enable you to improve your overall Sales Negotiation Skills.

If you have any comments, feel free to comment about anything you read on telesales-pro.com. If you want to contact me you can email me: jim@telesales-pro.com