Secrets to a Winning Sales Call
For Business Owners, making sales calls can often be an anxious moment.. you are an expert in your field, but perhaps not used to being in a sales scenario. Whats more, the success of your business could be riding on this call.
In order to overcome this, the best thing you can do is stop thinking of it as a sales call and consider it an opportunity to get to know your customer better. This means asking clear, concise questions and avoiding rambling on to the point where you lose your potential customers attention.
So, if you want to stop feeling anxious and start feeling more in control of your next sales call, follow these 6 STEPS:
1. Plan each call !
Don't overthink this, you may not know what the customers frustrations and pain points are at this stage, but take a few minutes to consider which questions you will ask to uncover this information, how you will position yourself as an empathetic guide who can solve their problem, what the plan of action will be, what success might look like and what consequences you are helping them to avoid if they don't take action.
2. Decide how you will connect
It seems obvious, but don't leave it until the last minute to figure out how you will connect. Decide and agree in advance if it will be in person, on Zoom, Skype, Teams, an old fashioned phone call or a next generation 3D Virtual Meeting in VirBELA! Make sure this is convenient for your customer to avoid any fumbled starts, technology issues or delays that detract from the awesome call you are about to execute.
3. Send an Invite
If you don't send an invitation, you are risking the prospect double booking that time slot, you risk missing the meeting yourself, you risk the prospect forgetting what the meeting is about. The onus is on you to make sure your meeting is scheduled, including details on how and where you will meet and what the topic is (don't just assume they will remember!).
4. Give your prospect an action!
If all goes well, you will be agreeing to send the prospect a proposal, they key is to get really specific with the details. Make sure you tell them when they can expect the proposal (and then stick to it!), make sure you agree with them how and when you will follow up with the proposal and most importantly,
ask them to give you an indication of when they can get back to you.
When both you and the prospect know whats going to happen next, you remove any uncertainty. Human beings instinctively move away from uncertainty and towards clarity - so the clearer you are, the better !
5. Be Likeable
Human beings are emotional creatures, we like to work with people that we like! Smile when you talk, connect with your prospect, be natural and avoid being stuffy and cold, it should feel like a comfortable conversation, it should feel like you are already working for them, helping them.
6. Schedule Sales Call Days
Productivity can severely drop if you allow sales calls to be booked in your calendar randomly throughout your week. They are a distraction to your core work. The way to avoid this, is to
schedule specific days and times when you will take calls and then stick to it.
It can be tempting to take calls that might result in revenue at any time, but in order to be on your best form for the call and to avoid being disrupted whilst you are involved in other work, its a far better strategy to set specific time aside.
Good luck!
If you need help getting your messaging, marketing or sales processes working for you, drop me an e-mail - I'll be happy to help.