|
What are you doing TODAY to increase your sales opportunities? With all the recent chatter about Internet marketing and new tools and techniques for driving traffic to your website, sometimes the basics get left out of the conversation. Which is why I included the eleventh idea of "Pick up the Phone and Make a Sales Call" on the list of 12 Ways to Increase Sales. (Click here to read the entire list). If you've been reading and implementing each week's strategy, by now you should have almost everything in place to make an effective 'cold call.' And, by the way, I do not think of them as 'cold calls.' I prefer to call them introductions. I'm introducing myself to someone at a company and trying to understand one or more of the following: 1) Do I have the correct contact name? Is the person I ask for really the correct contact who will be the decision maker or champion for the service or product I'm offering? 2) What is the level of interest (or how much pain do they have that my product/service can ease)? 3) What is the next step? I always finish a conversation (even a very brief one!) with a statement of what the next step(s) will be and ask the other person if they agree. Then, I actually follow up on my part of the agreement (send an email, call again next Wednesday at 10 AM Central Time, etc.). Here are some of the basics that I coach my clients about making sales calls: Work from a script Yes, I mean it. Write down what you want to say and what you want to ask the person on the other end of the line. Keep it short. Keep it interesting. Practice it several times so you don't sound 'canned' or like you're reading it. You just want to make sure you don't start rambling or get off message. You will change the script thousands of times over the years as you find phrases and questions that work better than others, but success comes from the confidence of knowing what you will say at every turn of the conversation and what you will ask next to keep your prospect engaged and interested in learning more from you. What about voicemail? There are so many theories and rules about leaving voicemail during an introductory call. My advice is that it depends upon what your offer is and what you are trying to learn during a call. Some industries and offers get great responses when a voicemail is left. However, during most introductory calls, leaving voicemail is not the best approach. Sometimes I will leave voicemail if I also have the contact's email address. I'll let them know that I am emailing them information and that I will call them back to answer questions. Here is the important part: I always follow through by actually sending an email and following up a few days later with a phone call. If they do not answer, I will leave a voicemail to let them know that I've followed up on my promise. What if someone is rude? First of all, I've never had anyone be rude to me on the phone! This is just an excuse people use to not make phone calls to potential clients. If you let someone know that you value and respect their time, they will let you know if you should continue talking or if you should call back at a more convenient time. All you need to do is ask! What if they say "not interested"? This is great! It gives you more time and energy to focus on people who are interested in learning more about how your product or service can benefit them. The sales process is really just a system to learn more about your prospect and allow them to understand why it may be in their best interest to buy from you. The sooner you can help them come to a decision to either "yes, move forward to make a purchase" or "no, this is not a good fit now," the better off you will both be! Sales is not convincing someone to buy something they don't want or need – it's finding out what their pain is, how severe that pain is, and whether or not you can help alleviate that pain. It doesn't matter if you're selling turnaround management consulting, recycling services, or coffee filters. Find the pain and figure out how you and your company can heal it. These ideas are just some of the ways to ensure your success when making sales calls. Set aside a few hours each day to call the people in your database and move them through your defined sales process. It's a sales fundamental which means that no matter how sophisticated your Internet marketing program may be, you can not ignore the basics! |