While reading Steve Kaplan’s book entitled Bag the Elephant, we came across a wealth of good tips for making a sales call that we are dying to share. Much of this article is based from his book, and we highly recommend picking it up when you have spare time. 

Before You Pick Up the Phone

Before you even start dialing your list of prospects, there are several things you should consider to make the most of each potential customer. First off, contemplate sending out a mailing that overviews your company and the awesome services you provide. This makes your company’s name familiar and helps build legitimacy. Another thing to keep in mind is to create a script or bullet points. Practice your script so it runs smoothly and rope in another employee to get suggestions for improvement. Finally, get organized. You are on your phone 24/7 and that means keeping track of a lot of information. Create a prospect contact sheet or explore the benefits of Real Green Systems that organize all of the information for you.

Making the Call

You’re about to start dialing your first potential customer for the day; take a deep breath, relax and think positive thoughts. People are more willing to buy from salespeople who sound confident and upbeat. Now that the phone is ringing, follow the steps below:

1. Don’t leave a voicemail. Almost 99% of the time, your potential customers aren’t going to call you back. Furthermore, leaving a voicemail makes you look desperate and doing so means you can’t call the customer back for a few days.

2. Keep on calling. Have a list of potential customers to call for the day and start from the top to the bottom…. Then do it again and again until they answer the phone. As soon as they pick up, mention the mailing you sent out a few days earlier.

3. It’s all about the numbers. The more people you call, the more sales you’ll make. Not everyone will say yes, but that doesn’t mean you should stop calling.

4. Silence is okay. It’s difficult to tolerate silence when you’re on the phone, but do it anyway. Often, silence is a result of the customer debating on whether to commit to a sale. If you speak up with something like, “Think about it and I’ll call you tomorrow,” you’d only be giving them the chance to say no.

5. Go for the close. Once you have them on the phone, do whatever it takes to get them to say yes to the sale. Throw them a discount or a referral to change their minds.

6. Make it a selling party! Don’t try to call by yourself. Instead, make it a selling party and add a competitive edge to the task. Consider designating a reward for your top salespeople to further encourage competition.

7. Don’t give up. If you’re new to the game of telemarketing, don’t give up too quickly. Often times, it takes about a week to pick up your sales momentum.

After the Sale

Just because you made the sale doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. Send them an email or a letter to restate what you talked about on the phone. Take every advantage to build a relationship with your customer and increase their loyalty.