How To Awaken Your Inner Salesperson and Grow Your Business
Published author and President of SalesPEAK, Inc., Renee' Walkup, gave an animated presentation on the above topic that awakened the audience to find new and better approaches to selling on the telephone. In fact, her talk was based upon the acronym AWAKEN with many of the points taken from her latest book, "Selling To Anyone Over The Phone."
A - Assume you have the sale before you even meet with the client. This attitude will generate enthusiasm and positive energy that can be heard and felt over the phone. One of Walkup's guiding principles is a variation of Will Rogers' having never met a man he didn't like. That is, in her mind, "everyone is a client" and is not to be treated only as a prospect. It's just a matter of time.
W - Welcome the opportunity with a "can-do" approach.
A - Ask high value questions. Be prepared to draw out the client, feed their ego and ask them to "tell me" about your business.
K - Kindle interest in your services through effective delivery.
E - Engage in a collaborative negotiation. Be yourself, but be sure to shine through with some personality, be interesting, even smile when talking over the phone.
N - Negotiate your next step in every client interaction.
Walkup also added a few tips regarding phone messages: you have about 13 seconds to tell a client who you are, what you are calling about and what action you want them to take, e.g., call me at this number, then repeat your number again slowly to the "beat" of someone writing down the numbers. Conversely, your voice mail recording should be no longer than 13 seconds, as well.
Also, when using e-mail, you want to get the client to eventually get on the phone with you, so the purpose of an e-mail should be to ask them the best time to call. It is through the phone that most of Walkup's business is transacted, especially when the client is not local and a face-to-face meeting is not practical.
Make 80% of your calls before noon because customers are fresher and so are you. It leads to a more energetic discussion. And, as for not calling on a Friday - forget about that. Let your competitors subscribe to that theory while you proceed to get to the client.
As for how often to leave messages, that depends upon the personality of the client. If they are more assertive/aggressive, then you can/should call more often. Don't call as often if they are more passive.
One method to determine the client's personality for someone you have never met is to call their number after business hours and listen to their voice mail message. A more assertive, "I'm in a hurry, can't be bothered" type might say something like, "This is Joe, leave your number."
On the other hand, a more passive individual's message might be more genuine and warm, such as, "Hi, this is Joe Smith. Thanks for your call. I may be in a meeting. Sorry I missed you, but I will try to return your call before the end of the day, so please leave your name, number and a brief message. Thanks."