Many businesses still rely on cold-calling to sell products and services, especially for B2B firms. After all, it’s one of the fastest ways to reach your target clients. However, convincing people over the phone to buy your products is one of the toughest gigs out there. The market is saturated with competitors selling the same product, and most people aren’t pleased to take calls from salespeople.
Technological advancements have made communication faster, cheaper, and easier for people. Businesses invest in tools such as Xorcom IP phones to improve their capacity to make and accept customer calls. However, all the high-tech tools in the world won’t matter if your employees don’t know the basics of sales calls.
The rule is simple: the more sales calls you make, the better. However, with a few tweaks to your technique, you can still meet your sales quotes while making fewer calls. Here a few tips to improve the quality of your calls.
1. Start with a positive comment
Make it a point to start every sales call positively. The simple act of starting with a friendly greeting can do wonders for your conversion rates. Stray away from negative topics such as politics, traffic, or bad weather. If your potential client is in a conversational mood, you can talk about shared interests, weekend plans, or even what they had for breakfast. This ensures that your client is in a positive state of mind when you call.
2. Don’t talk about competitors
One of the most common mistakes that salespeople make during a sales call is to disparage their competitors. Psychologists say that when people speak ill of others, their audience tends to associate the same traits with them. If you say that your competitor’s products are shoddy, your potential client might think the same about your products, even if they know that you’re talking about someone else.
3. Compliment your clients
Assigning positive traits to people drives them to live up to the compliment. It’s like calling your kids smart and kind in a bid to make them smarter and kinder. You can apply the same concept to your sales calls.
Whether you’re on a call or a meeting with a potential client, don’t forget to hype up their positive attributes. Just make sure that you don’t come off as manipulative or contrived. You want people to think that you’re genuine. One sales trick: saying “You’re one of our best customers.” Having heard that, your client will want to live up to your comment.
4. Dominate the call
A few sales books will tell you to let the client speak, and it’s your role to listen and respond. However, experience has shown that you’ll get better results if you take control and set the agenda.
Once you’re done with the niceties, you need to set the agenda of the call from the get-go. Tell your client what you want to achieve while still handing over the reins to them. Make them feel like you’re on their time, and not the other way around.
Sales calls can be a grueling job, but with these pointers, you can improve your conversion rates and get your clients to say yes to your offers. Always stay positive and deflect any attempts to go negative. Finally, be firm but flexible.
