It is no coincidence that phone sales remains one of the top sales techniques and is an essential part of the sales profession. Even in the age of e-mails, the Internet, online shopping and social media, the phone remains an indispensable tool that salespeople use to make prospects react to their offers, one that gives sellers a chance to explain their proposal. Even businesspeople who do not use the phone to sell directly need it at least to schedule appointments with prospects. So if you perfect your phone sales technique, your overall performance will improve. You should therefore pay attention to the five most common mistakes made by people when selling over the phone.
This list was published by the HubSpot blog.
It sounds simple and obvious, but many salespeople are unsuccessful at phone sales simply because they do not dial enough numbers. The overall conversion rate in phone sales, even with the most lucrative projects, only rarely exceeds 10 per cent. If you call a mere 10-15 numbers a day, you cannot expect to be successful.
The beginning of your conversation is its most important part. You need to introduce yourself and your product in one sentence in a way that stimulates the curiosity of the prospect. Think about whether you yourself would stop and talk to someone if the caller said the same things you are saying to potential customers. Try different options with your friends, colleagues or supervisors.
Do not want any commitments from the client right away. Phone salespeople often scare prospects away by announcing in the very first sentence they want to sell them, for instance, a year-long insurance policy. Proceed step by step, without wanting any commitments. Ask the prospect to meet with you, possibly for only 15 minutes.
Prospects often automatically reply with "No" or "We are already dealing with someone." You need to present aptly a genuinely convincing reason why the prospect should spend time listening to what you are saying. Ideally, you should do some quick research before making the call and determine what might work with a particular prospect.
Most people use the same arguments: "I don't have time", "I'm not interested", "I already have your product" or "I'm happy with the way things are now." You have to be prepared for such reactions. Have a script ready and know how to proceed if the client reacts with one of the expected replies. Knowing how to proceed from there will increase your chances of success because only rarely will clients then surprise you by saying something really original and unexpected.
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