How to Start a Sales Call on the Phone

How to Start a Sales Call on the Phone?

How to Start a Sales Call on the Phone? In this day and age is there a need to sell over the phone? Oddly, still to this day, people buy from people. This is a sales maxim that probably hasn’t changed since Dale Carnegie wrote ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ and it doesn’t look like it’s going to change any time soon.

 

Bearing this in mind, I thought I’d write about How to Start a Sales Call on the Phone. We’ve dealt with elements of cold calling in the past, see here;

https://www.b2bsell.com/10-cold-calling-tips/

https://www.b2bsell.com/why-cold-calls-fail/

https://www.b2bsell.com/cold-calling-tips/

https://www.b2bsell.com/is-cold-calling-a-waste-of-time-2/

However on this occasion I wanted to write about what to do before you make a call or write the script. I actually wanted to think about the ‘philosophy’ behind making a sales call.

Here are some gems of wisdom worth bearing in mind BEFORE YOU LIFT THE PHONE;

1. Define the object of the sales call. Outline a clear objective of the call, whether it’s setting up an appointment or selling something. It’s obvious but worth ensuring you don’t forget why you’re calling in the first place.

 

 

 

 

2. Make them feel good. They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel (—Carl W. Buehner). I first heard this at one of the early Web Summits from a marketing guy and it really got the hook in me. He put it slightly differently; he said “people remember how you made them feel, not what you said”. In many ways you’re not just selling a product or service, you’re actually selling yourself

 

 

 

3. Adopt a persona of enthusiasm, confidence and above all be entertaining. I’m not talking about changing your personality here. Just make sure you’re upbeat and believe in what you’re doing. Like ‘fear’ people can detect if you don’t fully ‘buy into’ what you’re selling.

 

 

4. Use body language. Just like in face to face communications you can use body language to help ‘get your point across’. It’s natural to use your hands and facial expressions and although the other party can’t see you, it can be remarkably effective to inject emotion into the conversation. Believe it or not, people can actually hear the difference. We have one person here who often stands up when making calls!

5. Ensure the environment is right. Everything from dressing like you mean business, not in a track suit, to ensuring you’ve a glass of water to hand, a headset and background noise is at a minimum. Also ensure your posture is right!

So there you have it, How to Start a Sales Call on the Phone – Before you even think about lifting the phone.