If you want to really improve your telephone sales skills, there is one thing you can do that will make all the difference in the world. You don’t need to be a sales genius, and you can probably get great results just working on your own although outside input is always good.
What is this method? Tape your own telephone sales calls and listen to them latter. You will find that just listening to your own calls will provide you with all kinds of ideas on what you could have done or said.
They will also have the effect of keeping you aware of how you sound. On the telephone you tone or presentation makes a lot more difference than when you’re face-to-face.
If you do nothing else but listen to your calls for a couple of weeks you will probably notice an improvement in your calls.
This is an excellent idea, thanks!
Will this tip also work for when leaving voice mails?
I recommend calling yourself first just for practice – use your land line to call your cell phone. I recommend having a script handy – so you can work on the nuances of your delivery. Time yourself. Be sure your message does not exceed 45 seconds. Include a compelling proposition that you support with quantifiable numbers. For example, let’s assume since we’re talking about cold calling that I wanted to secure a meeting with an executive, I might say, “Sales people who use our proprietary call system dramatically increased their call ratio. If they were making 10 calls and secured only 1 appointment after implementing our system, they generated 8 appointments for every 10 calls.”
You want the decision maker to say to him/herself, “My sales team isn’t anywhere near those close ratios.” “What does she know how that we don’t.”
A compelling proposition combined with natural curiosity will win you an initial meeting. Let me know how this works for you.
.-= Christine McMahon´s last blog ..Watch This Space… =-.
Re: Cell Phone Voice-mails…also an easy way to listen to your messages on the fly when you’re leaving it on someone’s cell phone. Just make sure you know which prompts to hit to “listen” and also “erase and re-record”. It’s a great tool to help you critique your message instantly and perfect it before sending it on to your recipient.
That’s tough for some people, but it can make a huge difference. You just need to force yourself to listen the first several times until you “come to grips” with your voice and how you sound to the rest of the world.