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about these 10 skills and where you rank. |
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| Introductions & First Impressions |
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Does your inside sales training consist of “smile and dial”
techniques that fail to generate consistent revenues?
After training thousands of inside sales professionals, we’ve
come up with the
TeleSmart 10 - Sales Booster Series for generating
revenue by phone and email.
Our sales methodology has 10 essential skills for telephone
effectiveness that
actually work. This month we’ll be delving into Introductions,
the keys to making more sales |
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Here are the 5 most common challenges and solutions
for making a stronger impact with your email, voice mail and
opening statements introductions |
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“All I get is voice mail these days.
No matter how many outbound calls I make, I leave at least
90% of voice mail messages- it gets pretty mundane. Then
I start all over again the next day and leave more messages.”
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Wait, you don’t want to be a voice
mail stalker! Voice mail is a dying sport and yet it’s
a necessary evil. Getting “live” voices is key and if
you are going to leave a voice mail, make sure not to
leave more than 1-2 over a 10-day business period. It
must include the 3 W’S= Who are you, Why are you calling
and What’s in it for me |
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"When I finally get someone
on the phone, I usually ask if they have a minute to talk
or if this is a good time- I believe in being respectful
of their time and realize they don’t want vendors calling
them all the time." |
Always maintain your level of professionalism
when you are on the phone and because those seconds are
so critical, If you ask, “Is this a good time?” or “Do
you have a minute?” you’ll lose the call, because you
haven’t earned the prospect’s time. Instead, be sensitive
and listen for cues. Use a 2-second pause to test for
cooperation before proceeding. Once you proceed, increase
your pace, strengthen your vocal tone, use power words
and take control immediately of the call. If you do this
right, you will receive much fewer objections and be able
to earn more time on your call. |
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"I wasn’t ready for the decision-maker
to answer the phone, I stumbled over my words and he didn’t
give me the time of day- what could I have done differently?" |
Sales isn’t very forgiving when
you blow that first impression. Statistically speaking,
you’ll have to try at least 8 more times until you can
undo the damage. Realize that you only have seconds to
make that first impression by phone (15 seconds focused
on tone and word choice) and email (3 seconds based on
a strong subject heading and formatting) On the phone,
86% of what gets communicated depends on your tone (vocal
component); only 14% depends on your word choice (verbal
component). Make an impact! |
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"How can I increase my response
rate when I send out email and voice mail introductions?
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We are finding that a strong voice
mail introduction immediately followed by a succinct email
introduction is increasing response rates by 25%. These
two make a good pair and must be aligned with one another
and contain similar and consistent information. |
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"I can’t stand the sound of
my voice on a tape recorder, It doesn’t even sound like
me." |
If you spend more than 30 hours
per week selling or servicing customers by phone, your
voice is your asset, defining you and your success. So
keep it fit. Invest in a recorder, tape your calls during
different times of the day, and listen to the tapes with
a critical ear. Use what you learn to improve your style
on your next call. |
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This skill is offered in the Time Management seminar
module, which is part of the
TeleSmart
10- Sales Booster Series.
For more on-site training or teleclasses on all 10 of these
at the manager or team
level, contact TeleSmart Communications at 415-759-6537,
or send an email at
getsmart@tele-smart.com.
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