The Do's and Don'ts of Making Sales Calls That Work Well

Why Sales Calls Still Matter Today

You may tend to believe that phone calls are no longer popular and have been replaced with emails and social media, but this is not the case. Sales calls give you a chance to get together with people on a personal level. You will be able to listen to their voice, to comprehend their concerns, and to develop trust in a short period. Several business owners and decision-makers really like to talk on the phone since it saves time.

The Essential Do's for Effective Sales Calls

Do Your Homework First

Research on the person you are calling before you call him/her up. Look at their company site, examine their social media and get to know what issues they may be experiencing. When you have some knowledge of their business, you are able to discuss solutions that are of interest to them.

This preparation will not only be respectful of their time but it will make you sound professional. You are not one of those random callers but someone who takes time to know about their needs.

Do Start with a Strong Introduction

The initial few seconds on the phone determine it all. Begin by stating who you are and your company and then briefly state the reason why you are calling. Make it casual friendly. Whatever you read, do not read in a scripted manner.

E.g.: "Hello, it is Sarah, ABC Marketing. I have observed that your company is growing and I would like to tell you about how we have been able to make comparable companies improve their sales by 30%."

Do Listen More Than You Talk

This is one of the secrets that most sales people tend to forget; your ears are more important than your mouth. Ask questions and listen to the people. Trust is increased when people feel listened to. Listen to their words and listen between their words.

Listening to them well enables you to know their actual issues. Only then you can give them something sensible that fits their needs and not necessarily just sell them whatever you are selling.

Do Focus on Benefits, Not Features

No one is interested in all the gadgets your product possesses. They are concerned with what it can do to them. Don t write a list of technical specifications, but how your solution will make their life easier, save them money, or grow their business.

Think: So what? and turn features into benefits. So your software has got better reporting? It implies that they will come up with more effective decisions more quickly. That is what counts to them.

Do Follow Up Consistently

Majority of sales are closed when people have been contacted several times rather than at the first touch. Devise a system of following up on interested prospects. Provide useful information, make follow-ups every now and then and remain on their radar without annoying them.

• Write down notes to call them back when they say it is a good time

• Forward useful articles or case studies during a break

• Send messages through various mediums such as email and LinkedIn messaging

• Write comments on every discussion to have the necessary information in mind

• Wait - it takes months to cultivate some sales

The Critical Don'ts to Avoid

Don't Start Selling Immediately

The worst thing is just to go ahead with your sales pitch. Nobody wants to be compelled or hurried. Initially, you should establish rapport and know their situation. Make inquiries on their business, their problems and their intentions.

When you stop thinking about selling and start thinking about serving people, you become more willing to listen to what you have to say.                    

Don't Use High-Pressure Tactics

Aggressive selling is dead. Do not fake urgency or put pressure on people to make immediate decisions. When they say no, do not argue and when they have told you to stop calling do not continue.

Contemporary consumers are intelligent, and they can detect manipulation at a distance. Instead, be honest, helpful and respectful.

Don't Talk Too Fast or Too Much

It becomes easy to speak too quickly when you are nervous or excited. Speak loudly and slowly. This is because you should give the other person time to absorb what you are saying and to react to it. Pauses are not a problem, especially when they are long as they can signify that the individual is reflecting on what he or she has heard.

In addition, do not take over the discussion. When you talk more than 60 percent of the time, then you talk too much.

Don't Ignore Their Objections

When a person expresses a concern or objection, do not dismiss and do not debate with him or her. The issues they have are genuine and matter to them. Inquire on the reasons as to why they feel that way and then deal with their particular concern.

There are occasions when buying is a masked objection. When one responds with price, then he/ she may be interested but needs to know the value.

Don't Give Up After One "No"

There are numerous reasons why people will say no and it does not have anything to do with your product. Perhaps it is not the right time, they want to consult with their boss or they do not know fully the benefits yet. A "no" does not translate to "never."

But do understand the difference between, not now and not interested at all. Observe firm boundaries and remain tenacious with warm prospects.

Building Confidence for Better Calls

Preparation and practice is confidence. The more often you call, the more comfortable you will feel. Preserve a record of yourself practicing (with consent) and listen to it to enhance the tone and delivery.

Keep in mind that rejection is impersonal. Each no takes you one step closer to a yes. The best salespeople are rejected more than the average salespeople because they make more calls and take more risks.

Record Your Sales Calls for Better Performance

Recording and listening to your sales calls is one of the best ways to enhance your sales calls. Listening to your calls later, you will find that you will pick up things that you missed when you were actually on the call. You may find that you were too fast in talking, you were too much in the way of the customer, or you did not pick up certain buying signals.

Call recording will guide you on how you speak, where you need to improve and see the progress as time goes by. Call recording is a training method employed by many successful sales teams who use it to enable the new members of the team to learn the tricks of the trade through the conversations of experienced salespeople.

How Smart Technology Transforms Sales Call Management

The current effective salespeople use the advanced technology to improve their calling and effectiveness. Qoli.AI provides an automatic call recording option that records valuable sales conversations without the need to take any action and be able to spend all your time talking to the prospect without losing any significant information.

The technology allows sales teams to analyze the discussions, find effective methods, and assist new members with practical examples. When you are able to replay vital conversations, you would get great insights about customer needs, objections and buying indicators which would have been missed during the live call.

Making Your Sales Calls More Natural

The most successful sales calls are a chat between friends rather than a business meeting. Address the person by name during the call, tell related stories and do not fear to express your personality. Human beings purchase what they like and trust.

Mock the situations you might encounter to be prepared against the typical questions and objections. However, do not make it sound like it is a robot. Every call must be new and authentic, molded to a particular individual you are addressing.

Measuring Your Success

Record the outcome of your calls to know what works and what does not. Look at trends concerning successful calls and unsuccessful ones. Do you call at the best times? Are you making the appropriate inquiries? Do you make a follow-up?

Adequate record-keeping will enable you to get better with time and inform you about the prospects that are worth focusing more on. In case you have taped talks to view afterwards, you can evaluate your performance objectively and make certain enhancements in your style.

Recording your calls also enables you to remember some crucial information that prospects had told you over the phone. When you make a follow-up, you can refer to their particular concerns, preferences, and requirements, making it clear that you were listening and that you care about the needs of an individual.

Conclusion: Your Path to Sales Call Success

Effective sales calls are skills that you can learn and practice. Be concerned with assisting people to resolve their problems as opposed to making sales. It is important to be ready, authentic and persistent but not pushy.

Keep in mind that all professionals were novices. Use these simple do and don't as a starting point, do it regularly and vary depending on what you discover. Progressively, with every call you make your confidence and outcomes will increase.

The secret lies in the ability to treat every individual as a person with his/her own needs and issues. As you go into sales calls with the attitude of curiosity, respect and sincerity in wanting to be of help, you soon will discover that more of your conversations lead to successful relationships.