I have had it with tele-marketers calling my house who use terribly outdated, manipulative, boring, trite or insulting sales techniques. It’s especially maddening when their gross sales negligence happens in the opening line.
With that in mind let’s spend some time reviewing what not to say, and what the top performers ARE saying to capture the prospects attention.
First: What to avoid (these are all real life examples and my reactions, as a prospect, are noted in brackets):
- ‘Hello, can I speak to the lady of the house?‘ (I kid you NOT! This one was used on me in July )
- ‘Can I speak to the person in charge of your phone bill?‘ (If you don’t know, do some research to find out first)
- ‘Hi Colleen, How are you today?‘ (Give me a break.. I know you don’t care)
- ‘Hi Colleen, this is Bob from ACME, do you have a minute to talk?‘ (NO.)
- ‘Hi Colleen, This is Amy from XYZ. I’m not trying to selling you anything today.‘ (Sure you’re not)
- ‘Hi Colleen, I’m calling from ABC company and we are the world’s leading supplier or the fastest, cheapest product on the market.‘ (Yeah? Says who?)
- ‘Hello, this is Stan from ABC Fine meats. I’m calling to follow up on the free meat sample we dropped off last week. Our fresh cuts of grade A beef are…‘ (never received it because you never delivered it. Am I really stupid enough to believe that they would send a raw steak in the mail in the middle of summer?)
Horrific sales calls like these are proof that sales people don’t spend time preparing for their calls. Here are 6 simple things to prepare for each time you make a call:
- Know who you are calling and be able to ask for them by name.
- Research the company you are prospecting in order to have a relevant discussion about their business.
- Develop an honest sales technique to engage with prospects that is focused on VALUE not selling
- Script out your opening line and write down 2 questions you want to ask on the call, should you get someone on the line. Ask yourself, how can meeting with me improve the prospect’s situation.
- Prepare in advance for voice mail. What will you say if the machine picks up?
- Anticipate a likely objection and know what your answer will be, in advance.
For Sales leaders: When was the last time you listened to your team’s calls? Would you buy from them?
Dedicated to increasing your sales,
