Telephone sales are still indispensable and are one of the most important communication tools. You can win potential customers and maintain contact with your existing customers by phone. Used correctly, telephone sales can be integrated into your strategy. But to convince your potential leads of your product or service, you face a big challenge. How can you capture their interest without ending the conversation within a minute? So that it doesn’t come to that, we have put together a few basic tips for the right preparation and approach for you!
Your path to effective telephone sales
Cold calling by phone is a big challenge for every salesperson. You are contacting people who are not expecting your call. To increase your chances of winning a phone call, you should keep the following in mind.
The first step is to arouse curiosity in your potential customers. Therefore, avoid unnecessary small talk to avoid boring your leads. Always be motivated and prepare well for the conversation. After all, your goal is to arouse your customers’ interest right from the start.
Convey your conviction right from the start! Be authentic and don’t pretend! This is the only way to arouse the interest of your leads. Remember: Your conversation partner will notice if you don’t show yourself as credible and confident!
Furthermore, it is important not to talk purely about your product, but to show interest in your potential customers. Try to find out more about the industry and ask open questions about it. Why should the customer be interested in your product or service?
Winning new customers in the B2B sector with telephone sales
Your sales don’t match your projected numbers? Then this is the right time for a telephone canvass.
Even founders from the B2B sector should do effective telemarketing and start looking for potential customers. Based on your cold call, you will additionally get feedback from the defined target group and can improve your product or service in this way.
Telephone sales: Tips for preparation step by step
You have decided to make cold calls in order to gain potential leads? You need to prepare well and follow a plan to avoid basic mistakes.
1. Define target group
The first step is to think about your target group. Because you want to be connected with the right contact person. Usually, you always get to the operator or the assistant of the respective department first.
To get through to the target person, you need to know exactly how you should behave in the respective conversation in order to actually be put through. You can find out exactly how this works and what steps you need to take in our coaching sessions.
2. Set your goals
What do you want to achieve by contacting us? Your specific goal is certainly to make an appointment and sell a product. Therefore, avoid small talk and try to lead your conversation in the direction of your intention.
3. Create interview guide
An interview guideline forms the basis of your acquis measure. You can use the guidelines as a guide and keep track of the most important details. You will gain the necessary confidence to present yourself in a secure and convincing manner.
4. Create an environment free of disturbances
In order to be able to concentrate fully on the conversation, you should create a distraction-free and quiet environment. Nothing should be able to distract you. Your conversation partner will immediately notice if you are not concentrated and distracted.
Telemarketing should only be carried out if you have planned enough time for it. Other distracting factors such as cell phones or televisions should be turned off. This way you can work much more efficiently.
5. Determine time window
Set a time frame for your conversations. A few phone calls in between will not bring you the desired success. Even if you are still unsure about acquiring new customers, you will become more confident and experienced with every call. Think positively and you will succeed!
The perfect conversation guide for telemarketing
A telephone guide as well as good preparation for the conversations with the potential leads are factors that lead to a successful telephone acquisition. This is because a call guide forms the basis for the call.
It contains the most important points so that you can win potential customers. Your employees can use this tool to determine which points are important during the cold call.
Each telephone guide has a certain flow. This could look like the following:
- Greeting the business partner
- Short introduction
- State request
- Analysis of customer needs
- Explain offer
- Eliminate concerns
- Record result / make 2nd appointment
- Say goodbye
The greeting can be kept short. It is best to introduce yourself and your company briefly. Then take a short break so that one of the conversation partners can return the greeting. This will create a pleasant atmosphere for the conversation, and you will also avoid giving the impression of a sales pitch.
Check once again whether you are connected to the right contact person.
Briefly state your request and ask for a short introduction of your service. Avoid questions that your contact person could answer with a “no” like
“I would like to briefly show you how to build a successful business step by step.”
instead of
“May I show you how to build a successful business step by step.”
Describe your service offering as briefly as possible. Your telephone guide should be prepared so that the most important details are given.
Remember, the first few minutes are the most important. As a rule, anything over a minute is already too much.
However, if you proceed in a structured way and gain experience over time, telephone sales will be an important tool for acquiring new customers.
Checklist for Sales Managers
We have now shown you how you can generate new leads with telephone sales. In order to keep a good overview, we have compiled a checklist for you.
- Define target group
- Research potential customers
- Create a telephone guide
- Be authentic
- Prepare well for the phone call
- Start with a greeting
- Describe your offer the shorter the better
- Look at objections positively
- Say goodbye at the end
