- Create A Greeting Phrase.
Many people involved in selling and dealing with the process make one great mistake: they do not pay much attention to development of a professional greeting phrase. When starting talking to your prospect, you shouldn’t just say "Hello" and proceed with the telephone presentation without taking a breath. In such a way you are likely to get objections from the prospect. Think about a professional greeting that is formal yet not too long. For example, you may begin with Mr., Mrs. or Ms, such as "Good morning, Mr. Client." or "Good evening, Mrs. Client." It’s not recommended saying informal "Hello", like many people do. Be professional, be different.
- Introduce Yourself And Your Company.
When you are hearing your customer’s voice in the headset, it is time to introduce yourself and let the customer know whom he/she is talking to. For example, you can say these words: "My name is Mary Jackson, Company Name. We're a local firm that specializes in helping businesses like yours save money." Note that you shouldn’t be too specific and waste the first valued seconds of the introduction on the explanations "who you are and where you are from". Also don't mention your product/service, because if you mention it at the first seconds of your introduction, you allow the customer to say, "Oh, yeah, I’m happy with what I have. Thanks anyway," and hang up. You need to keep your introduction general with no any detail yet mentioning a benefit (e.g. "We help businesses save money"), so you will peak your client's curiosity and keep him/her longer on the line.
- Express Gratitude To Customer.
It is the necessary step to always thank your potential client for giving you a few moments in his/her busy day. When starting talking to the prospect, you need to tell him/her that you will not waste a second of his/her time because you value that time and you have a great opportunity to offer. For example, you can say these words: "I want to thank you for giving me your attention. My call will only take a moment of your time so soon you can get back to your busy schedule." Note that it is not recommended saying that your call will take "just a moment" because your customer may feel that you will take anything and this feeling will distract the customer’s attention.
- Show The Purpose Of Your Sales Call.
It will be best if you show the purpose within a simple question or a set of simple questions. For example, when talking with your customer the following question can be used to set the purpose: "If I could show you a way to promote your product at a lower cost, would you be interested to know more?" Such a question is likely to get "Yes" response. From the moment when you hear "Yes" response, your customer is interested in your offer, and now you need to be ready to start selling an opportunity and meeting this person or getting his/her permission to provide him/her with more information. Note that during this procedure you are not selling your product but you are selling what the product will do for the customer.
- Schedule A Meeting With Customer.
At this step, your primary target is to get a confirmation of your meeting, either in person or at teleconference, with the prospect. At the meeting you can get all the information you need to prepare a solid presentation. If the customer is so interested in your offer and he/she wants to see the presentation right now and here, that's OK – you only need to be ready for such reaction of your customer. For your best time management, you can use time management software (such as VIP Organizer) that helps you make necessary preparations, schedule meetings and develop agendas.
- Use The Alternate-Of-Choice Questioning Strategy.
When a meeting with your customer is possible, your next step is to question the customer when you can meet him/her. You need to offer the client two variants, "Mr. Client, I can be in your office at 3:20 p.m. today to discuss the opportunity further. Or would 10:15 a.m. tomorrow better suit your busy schedule?" But you shouldn’t say, "When can we meet?" By using the alternate-of-choice questioning strategy, you can take control of scheduling your appointments. Also note that asking for an exact time and place of the meeting will convince your prospect that you are a punctual salesperson who respects the prospect's time. Probably, the use of the alternate-of-choice questioning strategy will require some training from you at first, but it’s worth trying.
- Thank Your Customer.
At this analysis step, you need to reconfirm the date, time and location of the meeting and ask for directions if you need them. You need to thank your customer for all the time he/she gave today and for the upcoming meeting. You can also tell him/her how much preparation it will take from you to make the best use of the time you both will share. Do not forget to leave your contact information. You can say the following phrase: "If anything else comes to mind that I should know before our appointment, please contact me at [your phone number]"
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