A career in sales could be very perplexing, yet even more if you sell over the phone.

In this article, I’d like to share a few tips that will help ensure the success of sales phone calls. It would also help you stay ahead of your monthly sales target.

Generally, cold calling inspires fear:

perhaps it is driven by the fact that every one of us has been harsh with a caller who has interrupted our dinner or called right in the middle of a family discussion to ask, “Would you like to save money on your phone bill?”

However, there are a few workarounds that can help overcome the fear. Below you’ll find a few important clauses which if implemented successfully can ensure the effectiveness of sales calls.

Learn to pause:

Selling over the phone is more difficult than selling in person because you cannot observe body language. Because of this you will find yourself talking over your customers more often.Learn to pause for at least three seconds after your prospect stops talking before you say anything.

Be a good listener:

Listening is the key to becoming great at selling over the phone. You must develop the self-discipline to remain completely focused on your prospect and avoid distractions.

When you listen, you will find that you build amazing connections with your buyers and uncover real problems that lead to closed deals.

Avoid being monotonous:

If your tone of voice is flat and lacks any sense of enthusiasm, how do you expect the other person to ever show interest in your call?

The customer would imagine that he is talking to a robot. In such a scenario how much you think is the probability of closing the deal?

Call the customer by his name:

People always love to hear their name, so use it. In a typical telephone call, I want to use the other person’s name (almost universally that means the person’s first name) three times. It helps in building a connection with the customer.

Control background noise:

Some background noise is fine, but the last thing you want the other person to hear when you’re calling is loud music or the sound of informal activities going on in the background.

When you’re selling via phone, you’re representing an organization, a brand. When the customer hears background noise, it’ll put at stake the credibility of that organization.

Never hang-up before the customer:

Always allow the other person to disconnect first.

You never know when the other person might just share with you one more important piece of information or might ask you a question about the product/service.

Concentration is the key to success:

Don’t be distracted by email or other items popping up on your computer while you’re making a call. Be focused.

Because you can’t see them, it’s easy to become distracted with your eyes. Allowing yourself to become distracted may easily cause you to miss a key point.

Utilization of gestures:

Talk with your hands, as it allows you to convey more energy in your voice. Use a high-quality headset to allow you to talk with your hands.

Importance of Follow-up:

There are three points you need to implement to close a pending deal in the pipeline.

Those three points are, follow up, follow up and follow up.

If you say you will follow up, do it. Make sure you follow up on the day and time you say you will.

Otherwise, you will lose credibility in the eyes of your client, and will be unable to regain that, especially over the phone.
Callback reason:

At the end of each call, whether you have sold something or not, make sure you have established a reason for a follow-up call, and schedule that as a phone appointment if at all possible.

Remember that you are there to conduct business, and your time with them is critical to your success.

Therefore, scheduling your next appointment in advance will help you be more productive on the call, will ensure you have their undivided attention, and will result in more closed sales and longer lasting client relationships.

Jay (sales manager at VictorFunding.com)