Many people don’t find prospecting easy or enjoyable yet they need to do it to bring in business. The following tips apply equally to the telephone or face-to-face and are designed to help your calls be successful. 1. Avoid using ‘jargon’ – sometimes we’ve become so comfortable with the products or services we’re selling that we don’t realise we’ve inadvertently slipped into using specialised language 2. Don’t be too friendly with your customers or prospects – you’re dealing with them in your professional capacity, you’re not there to be their best buddy 3. Be specific and factual - don’t exaggerate or generalise – if you do you won’t be believable 4. Quantity of sales calls is important - don’t swan off after one good call - maximise on a ‘good run’ 5. Quality of calls is even more important – one lady was regularly attempting 50 telephone calls a day, making on average one-minute contact with 30 decision makers and getting knock backs from 99% of them – now she’s having proper conversations with them and is getting positive results on over 75% of her calls – sure the number of calls has gone down somewhat but which would you say is more effective? 6. Speak in a conversational manner - don’t be either theatrical or in too much of a rush – The first just isn’t believable; the second is normally down to nerves – trying to get the call over with as quickly as possible – be normal! 7. Only try to engage your customer or prospect in a sales conversation when it’s convenient for them to listen and take part fully – try asking them if they have a couple of minutes right at the beginning of the call – you’ll be surprised at how that little courtesy alone differentiates you from 95% of your competitors! 8. Have a specific sales goal in mind when making the call – and, no, it shouldn’t be “I’m gonna sell this guy something” 9. Keep searching for new customers… but don’t ignore your ‘regulars’ – it costs a lot less to sell more to an existing customer than it does to a new one, so don’t just assume yours are happy to continue dealing with you, find good solid reasons to be in regular contact in a way the suits them 10. Listen (and look out for) hints and clues that will help you to identify the type of character you are dealing with – remember it’s your job to tailor your approach to suit each one Hope these tips help you. Happy hunting! Linda These tips are from the Comfort Zone Gold course. More free tips and pointers at http://www.sellingforbusiness.co.uk © Linda Mattacks, CoZo Ltd 2008
Content by: CoZo Ltd
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