This is a Guest post by Art Sobzcak.

Guess who says the following:

“Hi, I’m just calling to check in with you.

a. Parolees out on probation, checking in with their probation officer.

b. Sales reps who call customers or prospects and can’t come up with anything more creative or interesting to say.

c. Teen-aged girls, every two hours on the weekend, calling their parents.

d. All of the above.

The answer of course, is “d.” What we will concern ourselves with is “b”, the Probation Officer call.

These calls are most often placed by reps who call regular customers on a regular basis, or when placing follow-up calls to those lukewarm prospects.

And the result usually is not very good.

No wonder. There’s nothing of interest or of value there for the listener. Are they supposed to get excited simply because you called to check in with them?

What to do? Have a reason for calling. Have something of interest. Search your notes from previous calls and make that the reason for this call. For example,

“Stacy, it’s Ken Mackeral with Fish Supply. I’m following up on our last conversation from January. At the time you mentioned that you were going to be expanding your catfish operation in May, and I wanted to share some information about what another customer of mine did to help keep his expansion costs low and increase his capacity.”

Use Your Database

Here’s a specific way to help you come up with great reasons to call, and call the right people.

Let’s look at a scenario using something that every company experiences: changes.

For example, has your personal or business bank changed names and/or ownership within the past couple of years? A friend told me his has changed. Three times. One astute bank sales rep who has been pursuing him manages to contact him after each change while the effects are fresh in his mind. Although he hasn’t moved yet, the timely calls combined with the annoyance of the changes are beginning to wear down his resistance.

Let’s look at the sales ideas and strategy at work here … the ones you can use too for a variety of situations.

1. Prospects can be particularly vulnerable after their existing vendor is acquired, merged, or undergoes some other type of change.

2. Taking advantage of it requires you to track who a prospect uses, and be able to sort your database accordingly, just like the rep mentioned above probably did.

Most contact management and CRM programs allow you to customize fields and sort accordingly. Consider assigning a field for “Current Vendor.” Then it’s a breeze to do a quick sort of all the prospects who have the competitor’s name in the field, and plan your next contact.

When calling these prospects, naturally you don’t phone with an attitude of, “So I see your vendor was just acquired. I bet things are a mess there!”

Instead, treat the call just like you would a normal follow-up. But, be prepared to ask questions designed to get them to tell you the problems and pains they might be experiencing as a result of the change.

For example,

“Mike, you’re still with AB Vendor, right? I see. With the recent acquisition, some of my other customers have noticed some changes in the promptness of getting orders delivered. If that is an issue for you, we have some options that might be worth taking a look at. What has been your experience?”

You could use this technique with any number of changes or events that customers or prospects might have interest in, that could be a great reason for calling if that situation occurred.

For example, let’s say a prospect told you that if you ever came out with a left-handed adapter for your product, they would get them in minute. You would then put LHA, or “Left-handed adapter” in your notes, and when your company introduced one, you’d simply do a sort on that code or term and have a great list to call, with a great reason for calling.

The only reason to make the Probation Officer call, (unless you actually have one) is a lack of creativity or work. Use these ideas and you’ll go further with these prospects and customers.

Art Sobczak has helped sales pros say the right things by phone for over 27 years.  Get a free ebook of tips at http://www.BusinessByPhone.com, and see more free sales and prospecting tips, hear recorded calls, and watch videos at http://www.TelesalesBlog.com

This is a Guest Post by Mark Hunter.

I’m not talking about the dial tone. I’m talking about the tone of voice your prospect is using. More specifically, I’m talking about what to do when you hear a change in their tone of voice.  We communicate with our voice, but it goes way beyond just the words we say and the volume with which we speak.  The real telling signs are in the tone of the voice, particularly pitch.

Listen carefully to the next person with whom you talk, and you’ll detect slight variations in the tone. What you are listening for is when the tone or pitch goes up and when it goes down. When this happens – when there has been a change – the person to whom you are listening is reaching a conclusion of some type.  Typically, a customer’s tone/pitch will go up slightly when they become excited or enthused, and it will go down when they’re resigned or view something negatively. Often, this change of tone is also accompanied by a change in the speed with which they speak. An increase in the words per minute signals excitement and a slow down signals calmness.

The trick with all of this is to know how to use it to your advantage. A customer’s change in tone, pitch or rate of speech is not as important as how you respond to it.  When a customer’s pitch/tone goes up, you should immediately ask them a question that gets them to build on what is making them excited. Then, immediately follow with a question to close the sale.  If, on the other hand, the customer’s pitch goes down, you should ask them a question that pertains to the biggest need they’ve expressed to date. If they have not expressed any need to you thus far, then ask them a question that would draw out what you believe is the biggest need or pain they’re facing.   Follow that question with another question that gets them to build even more on what they just told you. The key is to draw out as much as possible the need they’re facing. In doing so, you’ll be in a better position to close the sale.

Another key way you can use the tone/pitch is to help validate what the other person has just told you.  It’s very easy for a person to say something that is not the truth from a vocabulary standpoint. However, it is incredibly difficult to mask their tone/pitch.  Again, this can be a clear sign when someone is talking to you as to whether or not what they’re telling you is factual or merely something to help end the call.

This is the reason I tell anyone who is spending any degree of time on the phone to use a headset that covers both ears. Using an ordinary phone will not give you the listening advantage you need to discern the slight differences in a person’s voice. These slight differences are exactly what can help you dramatically distinguish what the customer is really saying. Ultimately, you will be better equipped to close more sales.

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs. You can read his blog at http://thesaleshunter.com/blog.

This is a Guest post by Jill Konrath of Selling To Big Companies.

The road to sales success is sprinkled with gone opportunities, awkward moments and foolish mistakes. For me, the chief difference between superb sellers and regular ones is their ability to turn these tragedies into wonderful opportunities.

As excruciating as it might be, excellent salespeople re-examine their errors to determine how they can prevent the same results in the future. Wounded but not defeated, they slowly discover what it requires to be successful.

I can relate because I have been there. I’ve had my own share of screw ups. And just the other day, some of my major mistakes came rushing back to me as I was off to conduct a training program for a local printing company.

When I exited the highway onto Como Avenue, I was instantly brought back to my days as a Xerox sales trainee when I was covering the 55414 zip code. It’s where I learned a lot of very useful lessons that are still inculcated in my mind today.

Lesson 1: How to Get Unstuck

When I finished my Xerox training program, I was assigned to follow Jim Farrell for numerous weeks to learn a lot of things. Then the day came when I was on my own.

I arrived at the office of Quality Products where I first worked. For some reason, I couldn’t get out of the car. I was frightened and thought that my sales career was done before it began.

After half an hour of being paralyzed in my car, a song from the movie, Sound of Music, popped into my head: “I have confidence.”

I began singing to myself, silently in the beginning, then louder and louder. I was mainly captivated with the refrain, “I have confidence in confidence alone, and as you can see, I have confidence in me.”

I didn’t really believe the words but they lifted me from my “stuckness.” I opened my cold call plan and practiced my opening statements again and again.

I then got out of the car and went inside the office. At the end of the day, I made 20 cold calls and found a couple of potential clients.

Over the years, I’ve encountered a lot of difficult situations that were hard to manage because I didn’t have enough knowledge and was inexperienced. I realized that it is impossible to know everything before you start. I also learned that in order to find answers, one should move and not be stagnant.

Lesson 2: How to Get to Higher Level Decision Makers

Trussbilt was one of the prospects I came across with while cold-calling. The company has been gone for a couple of years. It was replaced by the printing company where I was doing the training. The déjà vu that I felt when I went inside their offices was obvious.

At that time, I was working with a very expressive woman named Tinsey, who told me that she was the one in charge of the copier decision. Right after our meeting, I read a book that said that salespeople should work only with the top dogs and not their underlings.

My contact was an administrative assistant. I realized I had to remedy the situation at once. I got Mr. Big on the phone and set up a time to meet. Then I prepared well to make sure that I did a wonderful job.

Sadly, I never had the opportunity to take advantage of this opening. Tinsey came to the lobby to accompany her boss’s guest to his office. When she saw me, she demanded to know why I was there.

I told her “I’m here to see Mr. Big.” I was not confident if the approach I had taken was correct. Tinsey then yelled at me like I have never been yelled at before.

I was shocked, scared and became light-headed. I then fainted in the middle of the lobby.

I never did business with Tinsey or Trussbilt. But I did learn that when you are working with someone, it’s never proper to go around them without them knowing. They will get angry. It’s a normal human reaction.

Today, to make sure that I get to work with whomever I want in an account, I always tell this to potential clients: “When I’m working with clients, I need to talk with the VP of Sales, Regional Sales or Marketing Directors.” This avoids problems that can spoil your sales efforts.

Lesson 3: How to Cut the Crap and Net it Out

The Kaplan Company was just down the street and around the corner from Trussbilt. When I walked inside, there were about 30 seats filled with women who were preoccupied with order entry and handling customer service issues.

I informed the Front Desk Personnel that I wanted to talk to the person who made copier decisions. After checking with the boss, she accompanied me into his office. He told me to sit down and said that I had 5 minutes to talk.

“If you’re busy, I’ll go.” I said, trying to be courteous.

He said, “Nope. You have 5 minutes to tell me why I should buy your product. Your 5 minutes starts now.”

I mumbled, trying really hard to engage him. I told him that I needed more time to explain but he wasn’t interested. After 5 minutes, he stood up and told me, “Your time is up. You may leave now.”

That annoyed me. I told him he was impolite and obnoxious. Then I stormed out of his office and shouted, “I’ll never sell you a Xerox machine. You don’t deserve to do business with Xerox.”

I know it’s is difficult to imagine, but I really did lose my patience. And I’m pretty sure he never wanted to work with Xerox again. But he had a point. I couldn’t state clearly and concisely why he should hear me out.

I wanted to establish a connection and warm up the call. That made me feel better. He was a preoccupied person who chose his time judiciously. I didn’t respect his needs. After that cold-calling tragedy, I learned to net it out. That lesson is even more important today than it was years ago.

The School of Hard Knocks can be very cruel. If you’re making sales calls, you know how difficult it can be. Every time you’re knocked down, you have to make a choice about how to respond. Are you getting up again? Will you learn from the experience?

The most difficult thing in the world is to look at your own involvement in the situation, yet that’s where the maximum growth is for you and ultimately, the key to your long-term sales success.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. For timely and provocative sales advice, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com.

This is a Guest post by Art Sobzcak.

When I review opening statements for seminar attendees, clients at in-house training sessions, or for buyers of my Opening Statement Teleseminar on CD, I hear lots of openings that need assistance. Most of them, actually. And don’t even get me started about the openings that I hear when sales reps call me to sell. Many of these openings are destined to create resistance.

I am very picky about openings. That’s because we have so little time to create interest. Yet, most openings flat out elicit resistance, or don’t move towards interest fast enough, therefore giving the listener time to let the resistance build.

And the little things can do it. A couple of words here or there. Perhaps a question that doesn’t belong…too many unnecessary words that ramble like a congressman on C-SPAN late at night.

Sad part is, some of the things I hear are actually taught by sales “gurus” in seminars, books, tapes, e-books …whatever. I have to wonder if some of these experts have ever actually been on the phone.

I’ve decided to not be shy about dispelling some of the myths and bad suggestions being perpetuated out there—things that are causing salespeople to run into brick walls. I’ve been a bit hesitant to focus on this stuff too much, since occasionally I’ll get an email saying, “Don’t write about negative things. Don’t tell us about what to avoid. Tell us what to do.”

Well, I feel that one of the best ways to improve is to first cut out the mistakes. Let’s take this one: Finally getting a decision maker on the phone and then starting a prospecting call with,

“Hi, I’m Pat Seller with ABC Company. Are you the person there who would handle the decisions regarding your____?” Or, “…and I understand you are the person there who…”

I can hear the reactions now from some readers: “So what’s wrong with that?”

Here’s what’s wrong: You might as well start off the call with,

“I’m selling something. Are you the person I should be pitching it to?”

And again, I know that most of you see the problem with that, but yet someone might still be asking,
OK, we ARE trying to sell something and we want to be sure that this is the person we should be talking to, right?”

Right. But that IS NOT the way to do it. Here’s why:

• people would rather not talk to salespeople they don’t know. It’s natural, like the way we typically avoid the salespeople in retail stores who stalk after us and ask, “May I help you?” People like to buy, but don’t want to be sold. This announces your sales intentions, triggering the defensive posture.

• you have about five seconds to move a person into a positive, receptive frame of mind on a prospecting call. If you’re not doing that, they’re creeping into a negative frame of mind, moving into the mode of “How do I get rid of this salesperson?” Again the question about  “Are you the person…?” solidifies that before you have even begun to create interest.

• you should already KNOW that they are the decision maker for what you sell, BEFORE you ever hear their voice. That comes with good preparation and asking questions of other people within the organization. Even if you don’t know for sure, after delivering your opening—without this question— if you’re not in the right spot, they’ll let you know. And if you are in the right place, you haven’t jeopardized the success of what you want to accomplish: getting them into a positive frame of mind, and moving them to the questions.

OK, so what should you do? When the decision maker answers, go directly into your opening:

“Hi Pat, I’m ___with _____. We work with ____,  helping them ___. I understand that you’re now in the process of ____, and there’s a possibility we may have an option that could help you to ____. I’d like to ask a few questions to see if we should talk further.”

That’s very generic, and I always suggest that you tailor and customize your opening with information you collect before the call, and on the phone by speaking with others in their company so that you touch on results they would have interest in. And you can see that after that opening example, if you indeed were not in the right spot, they’d let you know.

Plus, if you still want to ask, “Am I in the right spot for what I just explained?”, you could do it after you’ve piqued their curiosity, since you’ve presented a possible benefit.

Sure, we need to find out if they are a decision maker. We just do not ask THEM in the opening.

Art Sobczak has helped sales pros say the right things by phone for over 27 years.  Get a free ebook of tips at http://www.BusinessByPhone.com, and see more free sales and prospecting tips, hear recorded calls, and watch videos at http://www.TelesalesBlog.com

This is a Guest Post by Mark Hunter.

In my conversations with sales professionals, the number one challenge they often face is prospecting. If you prospect with the phone, you owe it to yourself and your company to develop the very best phone skills possible.

You have about 10 seconds at the beginning of a phone call to make a connection with the other person. That’s right – 10 seconds! Obviously, that is not a lot of time, so you need to become very adept at building a message that creates interest and need.

As you make your sales calls, try to tailor your words with the below in mind.  I call it UPEF.

U = Urgency: There’s no reason for the other person to continue the call unless they believe what you are saying is something they truly need to hear right now.

P = Pain: The person won’t want to continue the call if they can’t begin to see that they have some pain in their lives (professional or personal) that needs to be relieved. You should strive to draw attention to that pain.

E = Expertise: If you’ve been able to convey a sense of urgency and pain, but you haven’t given them a sense of why you’re an expert, they may take your suggestion someplace else.

F = Feedback: Be certain that you are listening for feedback that will reveal if the other person is hearing what you are saying.

Before you even make a phone call, write out on paper bullet points applicable for each of the above areas. This will help you craft the right message. You will have prepared thoroughly for the particular client you are about to call, and this confidence will come through in your message.

You have to fine tune your opening message so that no valuable time is wasted and your potential client will have reason to stay on the line. Ten seconds isn’t a lot of time, but it may be all you have to lay foundations for a profitable long-term relationship.

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs. You can read his blog at http://thesaleshunter.com/blog.

This is a Guest Post from Peter O’Donoghue of  Sales DNA.

If you are using the telephone to book meetings and you are not as successful as you would like to be, then ask yourself:  Is it the other person’s fault? Or yours?

Quite frankly, when I first start working with some of my clients, I wouldn’t give them a meeting either. The first 30 seconds of a call are vital. The colder the contact, the more important it is to demonstrate value early on and to capture the other person’s attention.

Weak lines such as “I would like to come in and get to know your business better” just won’t cut it. Personally, I also hate the old standard “I was wondering if we could get together for a chat.” If someone rings me up and demonstrates they understand my business, can help me solve a problem, help increase turnover or profitability and can articulate that succinctly then I will always agree to a meeting to find out more. If someone wants to come in for a chat, then they can take a run and jump. They might have time to spare for a chat but I don’t!

One of the key concepts I train people to use is the ability to add value to your meeting so the other person wants to meet you. Think of it like this: If you were to take the words you use to open a call and ask for a meeting, and posted them on eBay, how much would you be able to sell it for?

If you could design your meeting and then describe it in such a way that you would be happy to sell it, then your ability to make new business meetings will shoot through the roof.

The key element here is designing your meeting to add value because it’s not about the words you use. It’s about the item you are describing. What value do you add in a meeting?

If you were selling to a professional person that was charging out their time at £250 per hour and you wanted an hour of their time, how would you demonstrate that it would be well worth their trade off in time?

If you would like some ideas as to how I help train organizations develop so much value in a meeting, read the next blog post available here on this site. I will share some of the best secrets in doing this…

Peter O’Donoghue is the Director of Sales DNA who help Business To Business Sales Professionals increase sales profitability with Sales Training and Telesales Training.  Sales DNA work with clients in Europe and Worldwide through their Online Sales Training.  Visit his blog at  www.salesdnaltd.com/blog.

This is a Guest Post by Mark Hunter.

It may sound odd to mention “phone sales tips” and “body language” in the same sentence. Do the two go together? Yes! In fact, you can even say when you add the two together, you get a third phenomenon:  Increased sales motivation. Your body language comes through loud and clear with every phone call you make.

I often tell salespeople to make sure they are standing up anytime they make an important phone call. In the instances when you do have to be sitting for a phone call, make sure you have good posture. It’s amazing how much stronger your voice will be when you’re standing up and/or maintaining good posture when you make a call. It is no surprise that when your voice is stronger, your confidence is stronger too.

Another reminder I offer is this: Make sure when you are on the phone, you are free of visual distractions. What are some common visual distractions? Email would possibly be the biggest one if you are at your computer. Other distractions include television, miscellaneous papers on your desk or anything else that can take away your focus. When you’re having a conversation with someone on the phone, it’s no different than speaking to them in person. They deserve your complete and undivided attention. If you have something else that may take away your focus, you are doing your customer a disservice. Simply move it out of site.

Finally, an item I love to do when talking to clients on the phone is to have something on my desk to remind me who I am talking to, including their name and their company. There is nothing more embarrassing than to suddenly forget who you’re talking to. No matter how good you think your memory is, this will happen to you at least a couple of times.  That’s all it takes for you to realize how important it is to have the person’s name and company in writing in front of you.

Selling on the telephone is a key part of anyone’s job, whether it be using the phone to establish an initial contact or using it to stay in touch with a loyal customer. Use extraordinary phone skills each time and you will see a positive difference in your results.

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs. You can read his blog at http://thesaleshunter.com/blog.

Many small businesses fail to achieve their full potential despite having great products, because a lot of business owners don’t know how and where to start achieving the goals of their business. It is like enrolling in a gym. If you don’t know what physical build you want and how to get it, you will never achieve it! Indeed, there’s a guideline that must be followed. People call it a training program, which is aimed at helping individuals develop the level of fitness they want.

In the same context, becoming successful in telesales is made up of guidelines. Here’s a training program that is completely tailor-made for you and will guide you as a beginner in telesales.

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This is a Guest Post from Mike Brooks, AKA Mr. Inside Sales.

We all know the importance of building rapport over the phone.  Let’s face it, people tend to do business with people they like, know or trust.  What you may not know, though, is that talking about the latest sports scores or schmoozing about vacation spots is not an effective way to build rapport and often just lengthens the call, dilutes your message, and gets you no closer to the deal than you were before you wasted all that time.

If you want to truly connect to your prospect and build the kind of rapport that will actually influence and lead to a closed deal, then you need to learn how build what I call, “Relevant Rapport.”  Relevant rapport means taking the time to talk about the issues your prospect is going through or what they’re trying to solve, and then expanding on these relevant issues and letting them know you understand exactly what they’re trying to accomplish and explaining how you are uniquely qualified to help them.

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This is a Guest Post from Paul Archer, of Archer Training. This is the second and last post from his two-part article called “Eight Under the Radar Telesales Tips.

What do we mean “Under the Radar”?

Getting under the radar is a way of sneaking in through the back door without anyone noticing.  The Stealth Fighter plane is famous for evading the enemy’s radar systems so it can drop its bombs with precision accuracy.  Harry Potter is legendary for his invisible cloak which allows him to sneak anywhere un-noticed.

Now if you, like me, believe wholeheartedly in ethical selling.  In other words only selling something to someone who genuinely needs it and can afford it.  Without a hesitation of doubt…then you need some selling under the radar tips because you can use them with the belief that you’re legitimately helping the customer along the path of the sale.
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