» Sales by phone

© Oleg Tocheny

telephone marketing
(sales by phone)

Are you a telephone agent and are now going to dial a potential client to offer him a product or service? Don't rush. If you act head on, then for your interlocutor you will be just one of many who daily bothers him with such calls. Here you need to use a different tactic, thanks to which you will be able to attract the attention of the client to your offer.

Before starting the conversation, you, of course, identified a number of firms that can become clients of your firm. Find out the name of the company, the name of the contact person, other details and enter all this into the database. Now you need to think carefully about the upcoming conversation. If you write an appeal correctly and manage to arouse interest in yourself, then this company will almost certainly become your client.

Try to put yourself in the place of the client and answer the question: “Why, in fact, should I buy this product?”

There are not so many reasons why people shop

1. To save money (20% discount in the store, you need to buy jeans);
2. In order to earn money (use for the production of other goods, resell);
3. To save time (for example, a phone saves time compared to personal travel; a car saves time compared to public transport, - so people pay for the installation of phones and buy cars);
4. To maintain your social status (you need to buy a "Mere": the owner of the company is ashamed to drive a "Zhiguli");
5. And last reason- logical considerations (by purchasing real estate, you make sure that your children, when they grow up, are provided with housing).

"Try on" this list to your potential client - and now you can come up with an introduction to the conversation.

Introduction to the conversation

The introduction to the conversation should contain no more than 75 words (otherwise, the other end of the line will have time to hang up or find an objection). To do this, you have at your disposal no more than 45 seconds - during this time you must have time to introduce the company and state the reasons why the client may be interested in your offer.

What you have time to say in these 45 seconds is very important. But just as important is how you say it. Take care of the correct intonation. You must radiate a positive attitude towards what you are doing - smile! Remember that a smile can be "seen" on the phone. If you just read something, your interlocutor will also easily understand it. Don't believe? Check with your friends. So the first thing is a smile. The second is what you actually have to say.

There are 5 stages that you need to go through in every telephone conversation with a client.

1. It is necessary to attract the attention of the interlocutor. This can be done as a greeting. As soon as you say: “Good afternoon, Mr. Petrenko!”, you will capture his attention.
2. Then you should introduce yourself. I don't think anyone should be taught this.
3. After that, you need to give the name of your company.
4. Finally, you should say something that will arouse the client's interest in your firm.

As a result, you should get something like: “Hello, Mr. Petrenko! You are concerned about Mr. Sidorenko from Service and Co. We offer talking office refrigerators that tell you which products are beginning to deteriorate and need to be used as soon as possible, to which employee they belong and how this employee reacts to the disappearance of his property from the refrigerator. A talking refrigerator will help your company save up to 20% of employees' food costs and, consequently, the payroll. In addition, this purchase excludes office duels on kefir bottles.”

5. The most difficult thing: you need to ask a question to which your interlocutor will certainly answer “yes”. For example: “Is your company interested in keeping employees productive?” Who's to say that his company is not interested in this?

But if Mr. Petrenko still says no, apologize, thank him for the time he gave you, and hang up. After such an answer, it is useless to convince him to listen to you. The likelihood that he will agree to your proposals is one chance in a thousand. It's not worth your time. It is much more useful to spend it on dialing the next number. Here you were answered "yes" - the first victory. But that's not all: most often, after a positive answer, objections follow, and below we will talk about how to deal with them.

And now a few words about how to overcome one significant obstacle, whose name is the secretary. I remind you that your task is to get through to the person who makes the decisions.

So the secretary picks up the phone. Introduce yourself, state your proposal and ask who you need to talk to. If you can't get the name, try to cheat. Pretend to be a customer, call back and ask to be connected to Mr. Ivanov from the sales department. If you are lucky and you guess right, then you will be connected immediately, if not, then pretend that you mixed up the last name. Ask for the name of the head of the sales department, and then ask to connect with him after all. Your main goal - to talk to someone who can make a decision, bypassing the secretary - is achieved. Now you can start a conversation, the result of which should be the appointment of a meeting with the client or the conclusion of an agreement.

Conversation with a client

Ten commandments of the telephone agent

1. The 20/80 rule. This means that 80% of the time you should be listening and talking only 20%. For the opening speech, you are given, as we have already said, 45 seconds. Then your task is to listen and remember the problems and needs of customers. Then you will have an excellent reason to offer the client to conclude an agreement with you, which will help him solve these problems and satisfy his needs.
2. If you want to look businesslike, never ask general issues- about the weather or "How are you doing?". Is it appropriate to ask about the weather of an interlocutor who is at a distance of 20 km from you? Are you ready to devote the next half hour to listening to stories about other people's problems?
3. Avoid hesitations, speak specifically, accurately, observe the right intonation. Don't forget to smile! You need to speak not too slowly and not too fast, not too loud and not too soft. You must be sure that you are well heard and understood. Learn to feel when you need to pause in a conversation. Telephone agents work much more efficiently when they know how to silently wait for an answer and hang up on time.
4. Don't be upset if you get an answering machine. Your goal is to get a call back, and we'll talk about how to do that a bit later.
5. Do not rush to send information to the client at the first request, if he really does not know what he needs. In most cases, the request for information is simply a desire to keep you behind. However, there are many different ways to use this request to your advantage. You can not send anything, but just call a week later and ask if the information has reached. Usually the client answers your question and continues the conversation. You can take the prospectuses personally, citing the fact that they require explanations - here is the meeting with the client that you sought.
6. Answer objections correctly (we'll show you how to do this below).
7. Do not allow yourself disrespectful remarks towards competitors. Serious people prefer not to work with those who, in an attempt to persuade them to cooperate with themselves, point out the shortcomings of others. The client chooses partners with positive attitude- so they teach their sales representatives major companies, in particular Kodak.
8. When working in telephone marketing, you can not miss a day. By skipping one day a week, you will fall behind so much that there is no point in even trying to catch up. Never stop calling new people - it's the only way acquire new customers.
9. Never offer your firm as a "last resort" supplier. You must convince the client that your firm is the best. Experience shows that no one ever turns to the help of suppliers left "in case of emergency".
10. Don't give too much information over the phone. Remember your main goal. If you want to receive an order and you have been asked a question, it is impossible not to answer it. And if your goal is to make an appointment, it's better to use the situation to your advantage. Try to convince the client that his issue is being resolved, and your representative will be able to explain all this in person.

Homemade preparations

The usefulness of homemade preparations is difficult to assess until you start using them. Try it - and see for yourself. This is truly a lifesaver if you stumble and don't know what to say. Blanks cannot be read. There is nothing more unpleasant when a telephone agent interrupts you from business, and even reads something. In such cases, you just want to hang up. Therefore, blanks must be memorized.

In addition, blanks help to focus on the main goal of the conversation. By knowing what to say, you won't be wasting your time or the client's time. Thus, blanks will help you make more calls per day and effectively respond to possible objections. In this article, we do not offer samples of blanks: you must come up with them yourself, in accordance with your personal experience and company specifics. Write down blanks: this is how you remember them and learn how to use them. In the course of work, you can always correct them and improve them.

Do they object to you? This is good

A person who does not know how to respond to customer objections is not entitled to call himself a telephone agent. An objection is a kind of chance the client gives you; use it to tell him what he wants to hear. In no case do not avoid objections. In telephone marketing, there is a rule of 3 "P": "REPEAT, SUPPORT, CONTINUE". Take it into service - and success is guaranteed to you. Repeat the objection in the form of a question. Say that one of your clients raised similar objections, but after the presentation changed his mind and decided to work with you.

Invite the interlocutor to continue the conversation. Thus, you repeated, supported and continued the conversation about your goal. During the first week of work, you will hear a lot of objections, most of which can be reduced to seven main ones. Each of them means an attempt by the client to end the conversation with you. But your position should be the following: I will now overcome this objection, and we will continue the conversation.

1. The client says that he has already tried what you offer and did not like it. To overcome this objection, use the 3-P rule (see above).
2. The customer states that he already has a supplier. Don't give up: keep asking questions until you find the "weakness" of this provider - the point at which your services are in better side different from those that the company of your interlocutor has provided so far. Why not a chance to acquire a new client?
3. The client says that he is not interested in your product. Apply the rule of 3 P's. If the client again says that he is not interested, apply " final blow” (reception, which will be discussed below). But if that doesn't work, hang up the phone.
4. The client tries to end the conversation with a request to send documentation. Ask the client what specific data he would like to receive. Try to reduce the conversation to the rule of 3 "R" and ask for an appointment. If a client asks you to send a price list, tell him that your price list is so extensive that it is completely inappropriate to send it; but if the client names the types of goods or services of interest to him, then you are ready to transfer data on the required items.
5. The client says that the savings from working with you are small and not worth the extra effort that will be required from him. Explain to him that he will not have additional worries, but on the contrary, you will do everything in such a way as to simplify his life. Using the 3 R's, end your conversation with a request for an order or appointment.
6. The client asks to call back in a month, because now he is too busy. Tell him that he could save a lot of money during this time, and ask if there is anyone in the office with whom you could talk for two minutes. Using the 3 R's, describe a similar experience and end with a request for a meeting or a deal.
7. The client says that these issues are not within his competence. Find out from him who is responsible for this area of ​​\u200b\u200bwork. If he does not want to answer, go back to the secretary and ask him again.

Conclusion: the obstacles that arise must be overcome. Try to work like this for at least a month, and you will understand that this tactic justifies itself.

Earn the right to offer

When talking with a client, one more thing should not be overlooked. the most important rule telephone marketing: you don't have the right to just call a customer and ask him to place an order. But you can earn such a right even in one minute.

Follow the rules: make an introduction, correctly overcome 2-3 objections, and half the battle is done. Then, by asking the right questions and listening to the answers, you need to find out what the needs of the client are.

As soon as the client feels that you are imbued with his problems, you will establish a mutual understanding. Now you can offer him to place an order. In order to "talk" the client, you will have to use a certain technique of asking questions. Offer him something that will help solve his problems.

But maybe his firm has no problems at all? If all your attempts to find out have ended in failure, say goodbye and move on to the next client.

In your arsenal of ways to work with clients should be special offer, which is currently in effect and does not imply a risk for the client - we will talk about this below. But in any case, your task is to stand out from the crowd and say something that will make the client remember your company, your products and services.

Statistical accounting as a means of increasing the number of sales

Each telephone agent must work with a special form on which he notes everything he does. If the manager didn’t give it to you, it doesn’t matter: draw up such a form yourself and force yourself to use it every day. This will help you identify your weak sides and increase sales. Here are 10 things you should track every day:

1. calls.
2. The autoresponder entries you left (this will help you prepare your autoresponder template).
3. Gatekeepers (how many times a day did you hit the secretary).
4. The people responsible for contract decisions (how many times per day did you manage to convince the secretary to put you through to these people).
5. Sent faxes or mail (what needs to be sent, in what form and quantity).
6. Repeat calls.
7. Scheduled follow-up calls (how many calls you need to make).
8. Replies to your messages on the autoresponder (how effective is your autoresponder template).
9. Appointments.
10. Concluded contracts.

To do this, you need to leave him an advertisement for 20-30 seconds. The first four stages of the conversation are the same here (see above), but instead of the last question, you should write down a phrase on the answering machine that will make the client call you back. Advise, for example, that you will visit him on Tuesday at 14-00 in order to tell in more detail about the offers of your company. After that, leave your name and phone number.

Hearing that a person is going to come to his office, to whom he did not make an appointment, the client will almost certainly write down your name and phone number in order to call back and find out what the matter is. Your goal is achieved: the client called you.

But maybe he is just angry with you and wants to tell you this? As a rule, the indignation of the client can be neutralized. To his question about the meeting, answer that you just left information and wanted to know if it was possible to pay him a visit on Tuesday. If this time does not suit him, ask what is suitable. Thus, you returned to the rule of 3 "P" - repeated the offer of services of your company, supported the client and continued the conversation with a request for a meeting.

Now it's time to ask the fifth question. If the client answers "No", then you should wish all the best and hang up. And if the client answers “Yes, but ...”, you need to overcome the objection and again offer to make an appointment with you or place an order.

And finally, a few useful tips:

1. Leave information on the answering machine for no more than 30 seconds.
2. Don't stutter or pause.
3. Call again. On average, to catch a person, he needs to call 4-8 times.
4. Think carefully about what you are going to say.

Special offers

In order to attract new customers, always keep special offers in reserve - coupons, discounts, free services, free shipping, trial period. A trial period means that the customer receives the product and uses it free of charge for, for example, a month before he pays for it. This is what you have to do when dealing with large companies that you would like to make your customers, but who will not agree to buy goods from you without a sample. However, do not forget to explain in detail to the client what a “free trial” is: the trial itself is free, but the client will have to pay for the goods, although 30 days later.

Special offers are best used at the end of a conversation in order to persuade a hesitant customer to the first order. This method really works and is liked by consumers. But make it clear to the client that this is a one-time offer.

About the most important thing - about ordering

1. Question one: Have you earned the right to offer an order?
2. How many times have you asked a customer to place an order? You need to offer at least three times, unless, of course, the client agrees immediately (in this case, just say: “Thank you. You will be pleased to work with us” and hang up). But in general, the first offer to place an order is always a trial one. The second time you will also object. It is the third request that is critical. Usually after it you receive an order. I do not mean that if you ask three times, the order is yours. It is possible that you will never receive this order. The following points will help you find out.
3. Make sure you mention the expiration date on your special offer. If you do this, the client will have additional incentive enter into an agreement with you.
4. Have you asked probing questions that push the client to close the deal? With their help, you can feel whether the client is going to work with you at all.
5. Have you tried the technique called "last hit"? I mentioned this above and now I will explain what it is. When the client answers no to all your questions, ask him if he would be interested in even hearing your presentation. If the answer is “No,” politely say goodbye and hang up. You will not succeed with this client.

Focus - and success will not keep you waiting

There are people who, in a conversation with a telephone agent or a traveling salesman, talk about anything but sales. The telephone agent needs to avoid those who can "eat" his time. Plan your goals for the day before you arrive at work. You need to know how many calls you want to make, how many deals you want to close. And telephone marketing should be done daily, but no more than 2-3 hours without a break.

Get yourself going before work. This can be done in different ways. You can calculate possible profits on the way to work, you can listen to special cassettes in the subway or in a trolley bus, you can record yourself cheering yourself on a cassette and listen to it along the way.

Always call new customers first before making repeat calls. Many do the opposite, but if you keep repeating calls all the time, the influx of new customers and ideas will stop.

And the last rule: always start with the heaviest calls. Everything else after them will seem much easier. Do not hesitate, and you will be pleasantly surprised: in many companies you will be able to get through before the arrival of the secretary and talk to those who make decisions directly. So:

1. You need new clients.
2. Calls really help you get new customers.
3. The more customers a telephone agent attracts, the more more money he will earn.
4. You need to call every day.

Causes of failures of telephone agents

Now I would like to talk about the reasons why many telephone agents fail. Insurance companies in the West, for example, they hire thousands of agents, knowing that in a year 95% of them will leave. But those who remain succeed.

The reason for the failures is in the "SNSP". It stands for: fear, uncertainty, doubt, habits.

Fear. Telephone agents fail because they are afraid to make the next call lest they get rejected. This needs to be treated in a completely different way. Convince yourself that for 200 of your proposals there will be one agreement. And the sooner you get these refusals, the sooner you get to an agreement.

Uncertainty. You are not sure if the techniques you want to use will work. But there is only one way to find out - to try, analyze the results and improve the techniques.

Doubts. Let's say you decide to start following our advice from tomorrow. But then you shared your plans with someone else, and you were told that nothing would come of it. Then doubts may arise in your soul, which will cause your defeat. Don't give in to them until you try it yourself.

Habits. If you change your habits for 2 hours a day, in a month, using the techniques described by us, you will get rid of fear, insecurity and doubt. Write down your results, and if after a month they do not noticeably improve, then you are doing something wrong. Now start calling. I wish you success!

"Career", No. 2, 2000

How to sell by phone - this question interests many. The final stage of the conversation during the time is the sale of the product. It is not always possible to reach this wonderful moment, and at the same time especially responsible. It would seem that 80% has been completed and the matter remains small. But, it turns out, not everything is so simple. Many managers know that feeling when they do not know what phrase to say in order to sell. At this moment, a quivering indecisive state often covered. Such nuances significantly reduce the chances of concluding a deal. Therefore, the final stage of a cold call must be carefully considered in order to avoid such awkward moments.

To increase efficiency, I suggest working on ending the conversation. First, let's work on the bugs.

How to sell by phone - unacceptable mistakes

1. Loss of control over the conversation. This oversight happens when the manager loses his composure and confidence. In a telephone conversation, this is very well audible. The specialist begins to hesitate and shows weakness. It only takes a few seconds for the interlocutor to break loose or take the situation into his own hands. Then all the colossal work done down the drain.
2. I see a purpose, but I do not see obstacles. This mistake is typical for overconfident people. The manager rushes like a tank, which for many clients with a mild character works with a bang. But even in this case, you can frighten off the interlocutor. Just squeeze a little, say an awkward phrase, or unacceptable in this conversation. The most annoying thing in such a situation is that the operator does not even understand his mistake and resorts to it again and again.

How to go to sale?

In a face-to-face conversation, it is much easier to catch the right moment to make a deal. But everything is much more complicated. Especially when it comes to. How to sell over the phone in the end?

1. Gradually get down to business. Don't cut off that smooth storyline that you've been talking about. If you abruptly move from presentation to sale, then the client may take it negatively. Your personal interest will immediately become noticeable. And this is unacceptable. Your task is to smoothly lead the interlocutor to the conclusion of the transaction. To do this, you need to direct his thoughts in the right direction. This will help you avoid surprises.
2. Sure. Do not lose control over yourself and the situation until the last word. You must lead the conversation, guide the client to the right conclusions, take a dominant position. Be confident in yourself, your abilities. You also need confidence in the product you are selling and in the company you represent. Then you will be able to convey confidence to the client. If you are already approaching a sale, say a logical phrase with confidence in your voice. For example: “Will you buy a blue or red pen?”. That is, you are sure that the client will buy, it cannot be otherwise! You do not leave the buyer without the right to vote, giving him a choice. Expressing self-confidence, it is necessary to show respect for the client. He must feel important. So it's important to strike a balance.
3. Notice the signs of the client's readiness to close the deal. Recognizing this is possible only if the manager listens very carefully to the client. The interlocutor can show readiness to buy even at the beginning of the conversation, during the presentation of the goods. Therefore, be vigilant and do not miss the moment. But it may not come at all. From the very first minutes of the conversation, it is necessary to study the client. Then it will be easier for you to recognize interest and manifestation of need. There are several signs that indicate the readiness of the buyer to conclude a transaction. You can read them further in the text.
4. Effectively complete cold call. What indicates the successful completion of a conversation with a cold client? Of course, sale! If all the previous recommendations have been followed, then you have every chance to end the conversation with a deal.

Signs indicating a desire to buy

How to sell by phone, at what point to make an offer? Follow the signs!

1. The client goes into details. If you hear that the interlocutor moves from superficial information to more detailed information, it means almost “yes!”. At the same time, the client asks additional questions expressing personal interest. The main task of the manager is to proceed to the conclusion of the transaction. Avoid broad answers so as not to delay that long-awaited moment.
2. If a potential buyer interprets the proposed product for himself, this is a loud statement about the desire to buy. He already associates the product with himself, personal affairs, plans something. In this case, the client asks about the results that he can achieve. Or clarifies the benefits that will be received with the purchase. If you hear such questions, proceed to the conclusion of the transaction.
3. The potential buyer is silent. If the silence on the other side was heard at the end of the presentation, or after objections, then the client is ready to buy. You have the final word. This sign is the most common. As a rule, the client is silent after the successful responses of the operator to objections. He considered. Don't let his thoughts drift. Do not allow long pauses at such moments. Just unobtrusively move on to the sale.
4. The customer asks specific questions about the purchase of a product. For example, how payment is made. Or if he specifies how he can get the product. Be careful - questions are the most insidious thing. After all, they may hide an objection. You need to be alert and give answers that match the questions. Agree, it would be stupid if the operator perceives the objection as a signal of a desire to buy.

Effective end of a cold call

A crucial moment when every word, intonation, tone is important. Just one phrase, after which the client buys. How to sell by phone, what to say to sell?

There are several options. Below are examples of the most active ones. When choosing the form of the question, start from the individual characteristics of the client. Keep in mind that each phrase is only the basis from which the manager can build. Adjust phrases for yourself without changing the essence and effect.

Selling phrases:

1. Provide a choice. A very effective phrase for many clients when cold calling. The question, in this form, leaves the interlocutor without a choice, but at the same time provides it. That is, the manager does not allow the possibility of a client's refusal. He prompts him to choose a purchase option. For example: “Do you want to buy a phone in gold or silver frame?”. However, such a phrase will suit suspicious customers, or almost agreed. For a business person, it is better to use the following option.
2. Ask directly. The phrase is risky because it provokes the same direct answer: “yes” or “no”. But for some clients, it's perfect. If the conversation is conducted with a business person who requires specifics and straightforwardness, then it is better to ask in this form. For example: "Are we making a purchase?" or "Name, will you buy?"
3. Presentation end. In this case, you briefly repeat the presentation, focusing on the benefits that most interested the client. Such a conclusion dispels possible fear, adds confidence to the client and reinforces the need. Such a question must be correctly formulated. It is necessary to build on the interests of the buyer. “Buying a brand new phone that will make you the coolest person on earth right now?”. Or, in the first half of the sentence, you include brief presentational information, with the necessary emphasis. And in the second, the selling phrase itself: “With all these benefits, do you want to buy a phone now?”
4. Urgent purchase. You can end the conversation with a deal if you add urgency to the offer. “There are only two goods left at the old price, the new ones have already come at twice the price. Do you want to buy now?". This question acts as a powerful stimulus to purchase. After all, everyone wants to save money, buy cheaper. Therefore, the marketing world is filled with "discounts" and "special offers". Use it.
5. Comparison. Not all, but many people watch how things are going for someone. They look up to someone. Or they themselves strive to be an example. If we are talking about a company, then in this case it is even easier. After all, competitiveness is important for all enterprises. Help them with this. “Such and such a company also had doubts until they tried our product in practice. Now their performance has increased by 50%. Surely your interlocutor will not want to stay behind and will say the main final phrase himself.
6. Clarifying phrase. It is used in case of negative end of the conversation. This method is for a hopeful manager, as a circle is for a drowning man. If the operator has refuted all the objections or bypassed them altogether, it is appropriate to ask a clarifying question. "Why not?". The client may continue to be stubborn and respond negatively. Still, try to get a logical answer. Ask like this: “Name, your opinion is very important to me and I need to know the exact reason for your refusal”. Thus, you show respect for the interlocutor, add honor to him and win him over. Worth a try, why not?
7. Second call. Maybe one of your cold calls ended with a reassuring “I’ll think about it” don’t rush to despair. The conversation is not over yet. And you have every chance to finish it with a sale. Call the client back with a very important information. It may be a special offer that has suddenly appeared. Or maybe you want to report important data that you forgot about last time. Basically, find a reason. Only real and important. When you call again, do not try to block the deal with questions like “Did you think?”, “What did you decide?”. Briefly repeat the presentation, recalling the thoughts that the client expressed last time. It will be easier for you, because such a buyer can no longer be called “cold”. You are already familiar. Use previously discovered information to your advantage.

These recommendations are not 100% guaranteed to sell. However, they significantly increase the chances of effectively completing a cold call. We hope this article has helped you get closer to understanding such a complex issue as how to sell by phone. Successful sales!

Are you in sales? Then you just need to master the technique of cold calling. How to sell over the phone? There are many different ways to do this. But there are some very useful tips that you just need to take into account. What are they? Read below.

Attention to the voice

Wondering how to sell goods over the phone? The first thing anyone needs to know good seller is the fact that your voice plays a decisive role in whether you sell a product or not. If you act confident and believe in the quality of what you are selling, the buyer will be interested. If you go astray, shy and mumble, they won’t talk to you for a long time. So before you dial a phone number, clear your throat, take a sip of water, and build up your confidence. You need to speak in a calm, measured voice of a person who is not used to receiving refusals. You must maintain the initially set rate of speech throughout the conversation. Don't jump up or down in pitch. You need to keep the golden mean. Keep calm. Nothing bad will happen to you even if you fail. You still have many options for how you can arrange your life. So don't despair and don't beat yourself up. Accept any phone call as an opportunity to gain experience. It is never redundant.

Conversation script

Do you have a lot of sales experience? Then you should write yourself a script of your actions. For example, how to sell a ticket over the phone? If you have never sold tickets, you will get confused, lost, and, in the end, will talk some nonsense. To prevent this from happening, you should approach the issue of sales more intelligently. You need to write down the points of what and when to say. You do not need to prescribe all the phrases, you just need to plan what and then to say. Let's take an example. How to sell a ticket over the phone correctly?

• Greet the interlocutor.
• Ask who you are talking to. If this person is a secretary, then immediately ask to be connected with the head of the department or with the director.
• Introduce yourself again and quickly explain why you are calling.
• Learn about the needs of a potential client.
• Offer your services or the services of your company.
• Handle objections.
• Arrange a personal meeting or sign a contract.
• Say goodbye.

Remember that the plan is not something indestructible. These are your actions recorded by you, which should lead you to the desired result. You may occasionally break your own written laws. But remember that too often go beyond and jump through a few points is not worth it. Just keep in mind that you can adjust the plan as you go.

Say no to templates

If you do not know how to properly sell a service over the phone and are looking for a magic pill, then you will soon be upset. Not universal way to sell something to someone. Despite the fact that there are many different scenarios, you need to understand that each person is individual and you need to look for your own approach to each person. If you succeed, consider yourself lucky. Every phone call should be treated as a unique experience. Do not divide clients into types. They are all different from the start. Try to immediately penetrate into the subtle mental device of the person and understand what is important for a person in this life, and what the person considers secondary. Proper sale on the phone - this is a huge conversation of the seller, who does not insist on the purchase, but makes the client believe that the service or product is vital for a person. It is in this case that the buyer will not only buy the products offered to him from you, but also invite his friends to your campaign, who will also make purchases.

How to sell goods over the phone? Never use template phrases. If a person hears that you are talking on a brief, he may hang up without explanation. To prevent this from happening, translate dry phrases into living language. So they will sound not only more convincing, but also more natural.

Greetings

Selling during a phone call is a common occurrence in today's world. Everyone can master this art. How to start a call? With greetings. Be sincere and kind. Greet the person you are talking to and introduce yourself. Ask the person who is speaking to you to also give their name. This way you can easily identify who you are talking to. Since every employee big company always adds position after the name. After the first acquaintance, if you hit the person you need, you should seize the initiative. In no case do not be silent, otherwise the person on the other end of the tube will understand that you are worried and will try to conduct the dialogue in a way that is convenient for her. If you really want to figure out how to sell a product over the phone, then you can't issue an initiative. Don't let the person talk when you don't need to. You will give the person time to speak, but it will come later.

Talking to the decision maker

There is no point in wasting your time talking to secretaries and junior employees of the firm. If you want to understand how to offer a product over the phone and do it well, you should immediately get a conversation with a decision maker. Don't be afraid to talk to bosses and leaders. A few minutes of talking with them will be much more productive than a half-hour discussion with a secretary. Why explain to a person the essence of your supply proposal, if the person is not personally interested in improving the development of the enterprise. And the director always wants to cut costs and expand the scale of production. Therefore, you can talk with him on the topic of interest to you and his topic.

How to overcome the barrier of the secretary? Very simple. Before calling, you need to find out the names of the director and his deputy. Having phoned the company and got to the secretary, you should introduce yourself, and then ask to connect you with the director. It is advisable to name the person making the decision by name and patronymic. In this case, the secretary may not ask you questions for what purpose you are calling and what exactly you want to offer. You will tell the director all these nuances. So before calling, do not be lazy to do preparatory work.

Permission to speak

If the person you are talking to has a call recording, then you should start the conversation with an introductory phrase, which will be a kind of permission for the person that she is now listening to your advertisement. It is advisable to always say such an introductory phrase, because you definitely won’t know whether your opponent’s call is worth recording or not. How to sell over the phone? Before getting to the heart of your call, ask if the person is comfortable talking. Perhaps the director will be at a meeting or at a planning meeting, and you and your call do not fit into the plans of the person. Such a question will show your politeness, and also become a permission to talk. If the person subsequently screams: “Yes, you again want to advertise something to me, I will sue you!”, You may not be afraid of such a phrase. The person personally confirmed his desire to continue communication with you. This little trick will help you avoid big problems with the law.

Points of contact

Do you want to win over a client from the first phrase? Then you will need to prepare for the conversation. How to sell over the phone? Preview the history of the establishment of the company you are calling. Write down all the information that you consider important, and then monitor the site. After that, you can safely call the director with your proposal. What will your dialogue look like?

Good afternoon, Anatoly Sergeevich. Are you worried about Ivan Fedorovich from transport company. Do you manufacture and collect household appliances for 10 years now, right?

Yes, that's right.

You already have an established system for selling your goods to various cities, but you have been working with your couriers for so long that you do not know the price situation on the market. I can offer you the best conditions.

At this stage, you must interest the client and show him that you are aware of not only what the company is doing, but you are also aware of how the company is doing. Such phrases have a strong effect on people. They are interested in an offer that automatically seems profitable to them.

A little about the company

Once you have your listener intrigued, it will be easy to keep their attention. But remember that the magic will last no more than two minutes. During this time, you need to have time to make a small but capacious presentation of your company. Tell us how long your company has been on the market, as well as what it does, who it serves, and what successes you are proud of. To understand how to sell by phone, you need to be a psychologist. A person always trusts those firms that can provide links to the recommendations of their candidacy. And hardly anyone will check such information. But it's still not worth lying. If you said that you were cooperating with Gazprom, then you should have received an order from this company at least once.

When making a presentation, draw the attention of the client to strengths companies. Talk about the benefits, but don't just talk about them. If you talk for two minutes about how good you are, no one will believe you. You should not discredit yourself either, but list your awards and Thanksgiving letters can. And also if your company has something else to be proud of, you can voice similar facts.

Let the client speak

Once you've introduced your firm, give the client a chance to talk about their company. Each person loves his offspring and he likes to talk about what he does. Want to learn how to sell over the phone? Learn to listen and hear people. When a person talks about the fact that he already has suppliers, then you can subtly hint that there is no ideal companies. Have a potential client tell you about the problems they have with their current firm. If there are many of these problems, then you will automatically find something to offer. But if the person is happy with everything, it will be difficult for you to find disadvantages with the company. Therefore, try to pay great attention to what the person who is talking to you puts emphasis on. If a person talks a lot about money, then you should subsequently offer the person a small price for your services. If it is important for the person that everything is done on time, you will need to mention that you are doing everything on time, and in case of any delay, you will reimburse the person for damages. Of course, all information must be true. If you can take responsibility for the fact that your promises are not empty, then make them. And if you cannot do this, then you should not start cooperation with a lie.

Getting to know the client's preferences

By listening carefully to a person at the stage when he told you about himself and his needs, you could learn a lot. necessary information. In the next step, you should clarify whether you understood the client correctly. Therefore, ask the person questions such as: I understand that your office has Internet, but the price for the services of your provider is very high, do you agree with that? Always ask open questions so that the client can confirm your words. How to sell over the phone? An example dialogue might look like this:

Alexey Borisovich, you have a large company, it is very difficult to manage all the employees. But still you want to be aware of the affairs of each department?

Then you just need to connect video surveillance in every department so that you can be aware of whether your employees are doing well.

Do you think the quality of people's work will improve if they know they are being watched?

Of course. This fact can be confirmed by many heads of companies that have already become our clients.

The seller should always help the client realize one simple truth: it will be difficult for him to live without your services or without your products. You do not offer a product to a person, you sell him the confidence that by purchasing your product, his company will develop and grow.

Personal offer

All people love it when they are looking for an individual approach. Are you looking for a way to sell over the phone? Example phrases to help you do this would be:

• For companies that do freight transport, we have a special promotion that will help you save on washing your vehicles.
• If you connect the Internet from our company before the end of the week, you will receive equipment for the entire office for free.
• There is a special offer in your area today, if you order a sales training for your employees, we can, as a bonus, work out secret persuasion techniques that will help your people not only sell better, but also easily enter the trust of any client.

Such offers look very tempting. If they are successfully done at the moment when the client decides on your offer, then you do not even have to work out objections. The leader will be bought by your attention and care, and the business person will be afraid to miss the opportunity to get something for free. After all, if he does not decide on your offer now, he will not receive bonuses later.

Working off an objection

When you have told everything you could, your task is to keep the attention of the client and not let him break loose. The person may begin to think about the fact that she does not want to make any unnecessary gestures in order to receive insignificant benefits. How to sell over the phone? You need to work out the objection. A person can think for a long time and spatially on the topic whether he needs your services or not. As a result, the leader will make some conclusion. And if this conclusion is a refusal, then the person will give you some unnatural reason, which cannot be considered reasonable. An example of a telephone sale with objection handling would be as follows:

I like your suggestion, but unfortunately I don't have time to change the shipping company right now.

What are you afraid of? Our couriers are professionals in their field. They will easily replace your current people and will be able to do their work many times more efficiently.

Yes, but it takes a long time to document the contract with your company.

Our lawyer will come to you tomorrow morning and conclude the contract in less than half an hour.

You need to work through objections until the client understands that you can solve any problem. And if you can convince the manager of this, consider that you have already sold your product.

No phrase: I'll think

Do you want to have no sales? No person who deals with cold calls expects such a result of the conversation. How to sell over the phone? You need to learn how to practice the phrase: "I'll think about it." Never end the conversation on this note. If a person likes the offer, he will openly tell you about it. If a person is not satisfied with something, then she will tell you: I will think about it. Therefore, when your interlocutor announces that he needs time, say that he is not. Drive a person into a rigid framework and do not allow the rules of your game to be changed. If you want the person to somehow decide, make her an offer that cannot be refused. Then the person will have no choice and he will have to agree.

"I'll think about it" is a phrase that says that your offer did not suit the person. If you hear these words over and over again, then you need to work on yourself and on your way of conducting telephone conversations. People rarely do direct refusals when making calls. But they can often say: "I'll think about it." Don't give people that opportunity. If a person utters such a phrase, take it as another objection and try to work it out.

Parting

How to sell by phone, you understand. How should the conversation end? You need to wish your interlocutor all the best, say thank you for your time, and also tell that the person will not regret the positive decision made. Say that you know that your cooperation will be fruitful and will last for a long time. You don't have to be overjoyed or the client might think they're your last chance. The tone of the conversation should remain the same from the beginning to the end of the conversation.

Try to be friendly and cheerful. Even if a person refused you, this does not mean that you should spoil his mood or say nasty things. A person is not to blame that he does not need your services or goods. So try to be friendly with all your customers. Do not divide them into bad and good. You, too, cannot use all the services and offers that you see advertised every day. Recognize the right of a person to the fact that he, too, has the opportunity to choose and make a choice not in your favor. You don't need to get upset. You can find a person who will like your product or service and will need it. It just takes some time to do so. Therefore, never lose optimism and do not be offended by potential customers.

Next important aspect telephone conversations is the ability to succinctly and clearly tell the client the purpose of your call and quickly interest him in cooperation.

Alas, quite often, immediately after the presentation, sellers start up a hackneyed and hackneyed song: “We want to offer you ...” and then a tedious enumeration of the characteristics of a product or service.

Of course, the first desire that a client has is to refuse and hang up as soon as possible. It is understandable. None of us like it when something very much is wanted from him. Especially if this desire comes from a stranger whom I have never seen in person. And even more so when for the satisfaction of this desire you need to lay out the n-th amount of hard-earned money. Remember high school physics course?

The force of action is equal to the force of reaction. © Newton's third law

So here. The more you persuade the client, the more he resists, even if your offer is actually incredibly beneficial for him and can reduce costs and / or increase profits by one hundred and forty-eight percent.

How to be?

They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Therefore, it is extremely important to interest the interlocutor with your first phrase so that he wants to listen to you further, to consider your detailed offer or meet (depending on the purpose for which you are calling).

And to get the attention and interest of the client, you should remember a few simple things:

First, give up this "garbage" phrase "We want to offer you ...". This is the same as the “favorite” and rather annoying question of sales consultants: “What can I tell you?”. The answer immediately suggests itself: “I don’t need anything.” After all, such a “frontal” remark puts your interlocutor “against the wall” and forces him to make a decision “here and now”, when he is not yet ready.

Much "softer" and more effective is the wording "We would like to find out the possibility of cooperation ...". Agree, talking about the possibilities does not oblige you to anything yet, therefore, it causes much less stress.

For example:

- We know that your pharmacy is located near the maternity hospital. And we just sell goods that are in demand in such places, for example, pacifiers, bottles, baby powder, etc. We are not working with you yet, so we decided to clarify how interesting it would be for you to cooperate with us.

Second, don't tell the client anything - NOTHING! - about the characteristics of your goods or services. Most people are simply not able to immediately perceive by ear such a number of details and details that are new to them. Remember that it is you, not your client, who works with your product / service every day. And what is familiar and obvious to you may be incomprehensible and tiring for the client. At the same time, it is much easier for your interlocutor to refuse than to make efforts to comprehend the flow of (unsolicited!) information that has fallen upon him.

Instead, be prepared to immediately - in the first sentence following the introduction - name the MAJOR benefit of working with you.

- The wise man says that there is only one rule in the world: a tiny question on which our luck depends. The more often this question is heard, the stronger we will become. Do you understand what the question is, Mr. Green? What does it give me? © From the movie "Revolver"

Think about what is the main "headache" of your potential customer that you can eliminate if he purchases your product or uses your services? What is the maximum benefit he can get if he agrees to cooperate? Increasing sales, cost savings, reducing employee turnover, reducing risk, expanding business, fixing equipment failures, increasing productivity, getting things in order, reducing costs?

One million quarter-inch drills were sold, not because people needed quarter-inch drills, but because they needed quarter-inch holes. © T. Levitt

Look at the situation not through the eyes of a seller who has a super-duper product / service, but through the eyes of your client. What will he get in the end?

At the same time, here, as nowhere else, it is extremely important not the number of arguments, but their quality. Save time and thinking of the buyer! Speak to the point and only about the main thing. Remember, you only have 30 seconds to impress and "hook" the interlocutor. Use them effectively!

For example, when I first talk on the phone with my prospects, I don't tell them that I can develop a workflow for sales staff or conduct sales training. But I always say in the first phrase that I can help them increase sales. Almost all companies want this. And this sounded benefit is quite enough for the client to continue listening to me, start asking clarifying questions and eventually agree to a personal meeting.

By the way, if the purpose of your call is to arrange a meeting, try not to reveal the essence of your proposal over the phone, keep the intrigue (remember the “bitten candy” effect). After all, if you tell everything over the phone, the client simply will not be interested in meeting with you.

Or here's another example. A few years ago, a colleague and I were developing an outsourced contact center service to sell. In this scenario, there was this phrase:

- We can help you to increase the number of daily contacts with clients by several times without "inflating" the staff of your company.

In addition, as a "sweetie" in cooperation with your company, you can offer the client the provision of some exclusive information about the market or the possibility of obtaining privileges from your business partners:

- We have a certain influence in this market, and cooperation with us can help you get additional income. For example, we have competent suppliers who provide our company with certain benefits, and if we characterize you as our partner, you will also enjoy these benefits.

On this I interrupt the story and leave you room for imagination :-). Read the continuation of the topic in the following articles.

You can also purchase and significantly increase the effectiveness of outgoing calls in your company in the first month of using this tool.

“Only a meeting is sold by phone!” - so say the classics of telephone sales, but this postulate is already outdated. Now almost any product can be sold over the phone.. By the way, a meeting can also be scheduled by phone, but it should be scheduled when common interests have already been found, that is, the main thing has already been established - warm contact with the client.

The telephone in the arsenal of the sales manager becomes the main weapon. The topic of telephone work is so vast that it is difficult to fit it even into a three-day training. That is why I conduct trainings on telephone sales in a two-week mode. distance learning. On them you can not only learn how to sell, but also develop sales skills. In the meantime, I'll tell you some of the most important secrets so that telephone sales do not seem so scary to you.

The main secrets of telephone sales:

• 1. Conversation script. He must be! According to the script of the conversation, it is difficult to speak naturally, so that they believe you, but without it it is even more difficult - you have nothing to rely on. It's like a cheat sheet in an exam - you rarely use it, but it adds confidence. You can read more about telephone sales scripts
• 2. Confidence. There are managers who can read Shakespeare on the phone and still sell. They are simply absolutely confident in themselves, in their product and that their product is needed. But if this confidence is not inherent in nature, then it can be developed. Firstly, it appears with experience, and secondly, you need to understand very clearly what benefit your product will bring to the client. If you call a client and share your faith with the confidence of a Jehovah's Witness, it's hard not to believe. So, in order to make telephone sales, you must be 100% confident in yourself and in your product!
• 3. The client speaks.“The most important secret in the work of a telephone sales manager is to express all the benefits of the product as quickly as possible, tell about what a cool company I have, etc….” This is the opinion of 90% of managers, and therefore there is a myth that it is difficult to sell anything over the phone, and most customers in response to the words “we want to offer” hang up. That's why the main secret of telephone sales is to give the opportunity to tell the client what is important to him. You need to evaluate the quality of the conversation by how much the manager spoke, how much the client spoke. If 50 to 50 - a good conversation. If more than a manager - the sale is in jeopardy. If the client is bigger, it's almost a sale. Conclusion: for a telephone sale to take place, you need to make sure that the conversation is interesting not only to the manager, but also to the client.
• 4. No templates. Do you think I'm contradicting myself? The script is needed in step 1, but no templates in step 4? If I say that a script is needed, it means: the script should be written only by you, it should be close to you. How to understand what templates are? Find a bunch of conversation scripts on the Internet and they will be hackneyed patterns that many people are already allergic to. Here is a list of the most typical patterns:
  - "Who is doing your shopping?"
  - "Our company is a leader"
  — “I want to offer mutually beneficial cooperation”
  - "I want to offer ..."
  - "Who is responsible for ...?"
  - "I am a company representative"
  etc. These phrases will definitely not help with telephone sales. How to write atypical individual scenarios I show with real examples in the article "Cold calling scripts".
• 5. Client themes. Many people think that the client is a very busy person and cannot be distracted by YOUR call. This is the case. Therefore, you need to make sure that the call becomes not only yours, but also his. And how to do this? There is only one common topic for all clients, only clients are willing to spend time on it. What do you think? Any person is ready to talk about himself, about his interests, his successes, his problems. Therefore, communication should take place only on topics that are relevant to customers. For this you need to know not only your product, but also the client’s business, to know how your product will help the client solve problems and improve their work.
• 6. Make appointments wisely. Many managers are given the task of “setting up a meeting” by management, and they make the biggest mistake. They make an appointment when the topics of interaction are still unclear and the client’s interest is not aroused. In order to easily make an appointment and you were accepted with pleasure, you need to interest the client in large strokes during a telephone conversation, and say about the details that it would be more convenient to talk about them at a meeting.
• 7. Submission. Scenarios may be standard, may differ from all clients. But the first phrase must be perfected and verified. The idea of ​​the company, of oneself, of merits, of the product is absolutely not interesting to the client. And if you waste time talking about what the person on the other end of the wire is not interested in yet, you lose those precious seconds for which he decides to send you or not. Therefore, the presentation should be clear, verified, and explain why you are calling the client. For example, my ideal formula for starting a phone sale is:
  - Good afternoon. Proshka, Sellers company. Sales development. I will explain why I consider this performance to be optimal: - “Good afternoon”, since “hello” is hackneyed, and “Good afternoon” can easily be pronounced cheerfully and with a smile, because Good day :) - Proshka (our character does not have a full name, he is Proshka. You need to give the full name, in no way abbreviated - Alexander, but not Sasha) - only the full name, not “my name is” (why waste time?), without a surname (it is not needed yet and is unlikely whether the client will remember it immediately). - The Sellers company is not a company, not an LLC, but a company. It’s more fun with a company, it’s possible without a company name, but I prefer it this way. - Sales development - summary what your company does. Now I can ask a lot of questions, the person understands what is at stake, although you can make him ask this question, but I like it this way. You have to make your presentation, practice it thousands of times, so that it sounds simple and cheerful! And half the work is already done - this is the secret of telephone sales of successful managers.

I hope that after reading this article, telephone sales will not seem so complicated and distant to you, because The most difficult secret in the work of a manager active sales— overcome yourself and make the first call. Start right now!