About Telephone Sales

Whether you are a small business owner or a seasoned sales professional, one of the most effective ways to reach your prospects is through telephone sales. Learning how to reach out to potential customers via the telephone will help your sales numbers soar.

Finding Prospects

Before jumping on the phone, it is important to identify key prospects. One way of doing this is by cultivating or purchasing subscriber lists. If, for example, your product appeals to web developers, it would be a good idea to find those who subscribe to web development information sites. Oftentimes, purchasing these lists can be quite expensive. So, it is generally more cost-effective to cultivate your own subscribers. One way to do this is by creating a free membership site that provides articles and information that would be attractive to your prospects. If you have a larger budget, contacting a list broker is an effective way to purchase a targeted list of subscribers. You can either call or email a list broker, itemize what you want and request a quote.

Warming the Lead

Once you have identified your prospects, it is a good idea to mail or email something that may be of interest to them. Assuming your prospects have opted-in to receive communication regarding your services, perhaps an informative article or news brief would be a great item to send. The purpose of sending something prior to calling is that now you have effectively "warmed" the lead. You should call your prospect one to two days after they have received the communication. To wait longer would be a mistake, as most customers receive dozens of product mailings and emails per day.

Cold Calling Techniques

There are many different cold calling techniques. However, one of the most effective ones is the consultative sales approach. To begin, you want to provide a brief introduction as to why you are calling. Since you have warmed the lead by sending a useful article or tip, you can start by referring to that communication. For example, you may open by saying, "Hi. My name is John Smith and I sent you an article on web development resources. I wanted to talk to you about a great new tool that might be of interest to you." From here you would want to briefly outline the product and/or service.

The most important part of the consultative sales approach is asking questions. Not only do you keep prospects on the phone longer, but it allows you to uncover exactly how you can be of service to them. The effectiveness of your call will be partly determined by how well crafted your questions are. Your questions should be open-ended as opposed to "yes" or "no" questions. Her are some generic questions you may want to ask. What are your greatest challenges or problems? Why is it a problem? How would you like to see the problem resolved? What is your time line for resolving the problem? What is your budget? What company currently addresses these concerns? What gaps in service are not being addressed?

Establishing Urgency

Once you have determined that your prospect is interested in your product, it is vital that you establish urgency. As with any type of sales, if your product or service is viewed as being available at any time, then there is no reason for the prospect to act now. One common way of establishing urgency is by offering limited time discounts and products.

Closing the Sale

To close the sale, it is important to establish a time line. How soon does your prospect need your services? It is also important to establish payment options during this phase of the sale. If you can get a purchase commitment before you end your first call, that is huge. Depending on the service or product, the sales cycle may greatly exceed one phone call. However, regardless of how many calls it takes to wrap up the sale, it is important to softly push your prospect to the next steps. One sample cycle might look like this: The first call focuses on the introduction to product and consultative sales questions. You should establish a prospect's interest. Schedule time to provide telephone and/or webinar demonstration of services. The second call focuses on the presentation of services. You need to establish delivery date and payment options, as well as schedule an appointment to finalize details. During the third call, you should set up payment and arrange for the signing of contracts.

Keeping In Touch

A great way to get repeat business is to follow up a week after the sale with a "checking in" phone call. This is a good way to get feedback, address any problems, and get referrals. Referrals are a very effective way of increasing your sales.