TeleSales Pro

Effective Selling Over The Phone

Selling Over The Phone

Objection Handling

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Having a great Sales Presentation is essential in Telesales but it’s only the starting point for any Sales Process on or off the telephone. A compelling presentation should illuminate the features and benefits of the products and services you’re selling. However, the real work starts when you are Handling Objections and attempting to close the deal.

It’s been said over and over that the selling starts after your presentation ends, you know the part where you actually ask for the order. This is where the objections show-up and this is where someone usually ends-up in control of the sale. If you are successful at Objection Handling, it will be you.

How To Handle Objections

Let me say this right from the start – if you expect to deliver a long-winded sales pitch from start to finish without involving the potential buyer and then effectively handle numerous objections, you’re setting yourself up for a huge fail.

  • Overcoming Objections Starts With You Listening

    • It is never enough to just let your prospect tell you their concerns, you also have to hear and understand an objection for what it is. Many salespeople relegate the listening process to mere lip-service and stay quiet long enough for the objection to be said without actually hearing what is the real impediment to closing the sale.

    If you pay close attention to your prospective customer, they will usually tell you what is necessary for them to make a purchase. Many believe Objections are Buying Signals and unless you are way off-base and pitching someone that has absolutely no reason to buy what you’re selling, you’d better pay close attention.

  • Be Conversational

    • Use A Conversational Approach When Selling Over The Phone. It is really important in Telesales that at strategic points in your sales presentation you involve the prospect – be as conversational as possible.

    Don’t come across like someone reading a script, the person on the other end of the phone will know. If you inject your personality into your conversation and engage your prospect it will create a favourable climate.

  • Anticipate Objections

    • As you construct your sales pitch, identify areas where you believe certain objections could logically be raised. You must understand the objections and the answers to them so you can be ready to overcome them.

    Be aware of all the common objections and have a complete set of solutions. This is where your Preparation Skills are put to the test.

    For more check out: Objection Handling | How to Reduce Objections.

  • Ask Questions

    • Ask your prospect questions throughout your sales presentation at strategic places to draw-out an objection so you can deal with it before you proceed.

    You can pepper the answers of some common objections in your Sales Presentations. When you make a point which you believe handles an objection, ask a probing question. If you get a negative response, you must deal with it then and there.

    There is no point moving forward if your prospect has an objection you can’t overcome.

    Do this correctly and it will help you gather your prospects’ compliance throughout your sales process.

  • Be Your Prospects Avocate

    • At every opportunity you must let the prospect know you are in his corner. If an objection is raised or the customer wants something, you have the opportunity to let them know that you will go to bat for him or her.

    If you are looking out for the clients best interest and they know it, many sales objections will never come up.

  • Always Be Positive

    • When answering any type of Sales Objection it’s very common for salespeople to repeat, parrot fashion, the remark the prospective customer has raised. Never, I repeat, Never do this if the comment is in any way negative!

    Prospect: I don’t have this expenditure in my budget!
    Salesperson: I assumed you didn’t have it in your budget… but, what if I could?

    When you repeat a negative conclusion or response made by your prospect, you are validating it and reinforcing that position in the prospects mind. This is such a common mistake and very simple to overcome. Remember, when you are Selling Over The Phone, every word counts.

    Prospect: I don’t have this expenditure in my budget!
    Salesperson: I understand, If we could put your Budget Aside for the moment – what if I could?

    In the example response above we have shown some empathy for the clients situation and not reinforced his objection.

    Try to eliminate negative words from your speech. No, Not, Can’t, Don’t, Won’t… you get the idea.

  • Ask For The Sale

    • One of the most serious offences made by salespeople when dealing with objections is a relaxing of the rule – Always Be Closing. Every time you satisfy a problem in your prospect customers mind you must get some kind of commitment from the person.

    It doesn’t necessarily need to be an immediate buying commitment but you have to close them on something, get their agreement, get them to say yes! This is what closing is all about. If you are overcoming an objection about anything, the resolution has to be an agreement.

    Prospect: I don’t have this expenditure in my budget!
    Salesperson: I understand! Let’s put your Budget Aside for the moment. What If I could set-up a convenient payment plan? Would you be able to fit small payments into your budget?

    If you get agreement here, not only have you overcome the objection, you’ve closed on a payment plan which gets you closer to the sale! No agreement, you still have work to do or you’re done.

Objection Handling

When you are delivering a Sales Presentation you have the rare opportunity to control how Sales Objections are put forward. If you understand what the potential objections will be beforehand, you can satisfy the majority of them as you probe your prospect with questions throughout your conversation.

Involve your prospect, be enthusiastic, and positive. The more adept you are with Objection Handling, the better you’ll be at closing deals!

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

Cold Calling | Selling Over The Phone

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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

Sales Presentations

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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

Organization Skills

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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

Persuasion Skills

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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

Telesales or Telemarketing

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Telesales Basics | Telesales or Telemarketing

Telesales is one of the most efficient methods of selling products and services in the world today.

It’s often confused with Telemarketing and in certain cases, the terms have been used to mean the same thing. Just so there is no confusion, I am going to explore the differences.

If you do a search online for these terms you’ll find a world of conflicting views. Most will intimate they are the same. I don’t believe there is any such conflict and each term is different, identifiable, and unique.

Most people understand the difference between Sales as opposed to Marketing and this is the starting point that will lead you to how each process is defined by the desired outcome.

I am in a unique position because throughout my life I have been both a telemarketer and a “salesperson that uses the phone only”. You will notice that I didn’t say “TeleSaleser”! To sum up the difference only takes one sentence.

Telemarketing is about the Offer, Telesales is about the Buyer.

There are always exceptions to any rule and I have seen areas where the telemarketers are really good salespeople. Maybe they are incorrectly named but who really cares as long as deals are closed, customers get great products, services, and value, and the business makes a profit.

Telesales Skills

If you are going to succeed at Selling over the Phone you will need to remember a fact that is very often overlooked or not quite understood. It is impossible to get closer to your prospects through any other Sales Technique.

When you actually think logically about this it becomes very clear. Why?

When you are talking to someone on the telephone, your voice is basically touching the person! Now I’m sure that if someone has you on their speakerphone, this is obviously not the case.

However, you could not possibly get closer to a person unless you were whispering in their ear. You are so close that the person on the other end of the line can hear you breathe.

This closeness can tell a lot about the person on either end of the telephone line.

  • Do they sound confident?
  • What is their attitude?
  • Do they sound intelligent?
  • Are they trustworthy?
  • What is their state of mind?
  • Are they paying attention?

Think about these questions and how you might answer them in regard to any recent sales call you’ve made. You should also try to understand how these perceptions relate to you as well. It works both ways.

Many people selling over the phone think they can play it fast and loose. They believe this because they are somehow removed from the prospect and are not delivering the presentation face to face. This is not the way to build your business.

You should never believe that Selling over the Telephone is less personal than selling face to face. The process of selling over the phone is similar to any other sales call but involves unique selling skills. One danger is that it’s very easy for anyone to hang-up as opposed to asking you to leave.

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