Sales calls are tough. Booking loads of calls with everyone and anyone isn’t always the right thing to do, no matter how tempting it is. It’s easy to waste valuable time and energy on the wrong calls with the wrong people.
Repeated rejection on your sales calls can get seriously depressing. Not only does it waste your valuable time and money – but your confidence can take a knock too.
But, sales calls shouldn’t be painful. They’re the lifeblood of your business. They should be energizing, engaging – and dare I say – enjoyable?
How Do You Make Sales Calls More Enjoyable?
If someone has agreed to take your call, you’ve already overcome the first hurdle. They’ve agreed to give you some of their time and that usually means they’re interested in the product or service that you’re selling.
The kind of sales calls discussed in this blog are the pre-arranged ones. The ones where you’ve both set aside time to discuss things that your service can help with.
Your role throughout the call is to offer support and advice on the problem that needs solving.
Do it right and you’ll be counting your conversions. Do it wrong and you’ll both end up frustrated, disconnected, and uncomfortable.
There are 3 really common mistakes made during these calls, if you’re aware of them you can avoid them. And if you avoid them, you will have a better experience and a much higher conversion rate.
So, what are the mistakes holding you back?
Mistake No. 1: You’re Not Pre-Qualifying
You should only be talking to the right people. Not all the people. Your content, your messaging, and your marketing should all speak to the kind of client you want to attract.
Be mindful of other people’s time in everything that you do.
Assuming that this is a pre-arranged business call, the person on the other end of the phone should be a good fit for the service you’re providing.
They must legitimately need the service you’re offering. Speaking to the wrong people will not only waste your time but it will frustrate the other person too so qualify your leads well before you pick up the phone.
How Do You Know That You’re On The Right Call To The Right Person?
How do you know if they are a prospect or a suspect?
It’s simple: You use pre-qualifying steps.
This might mean asking key questions before making that phone call. For example, filling out a simple questionnaire.
The answers they give will allow you to plan and get prepared for the conversation ahead.
You get to understand their needs more clearly, what they need, and what they will object to. You don’t want to be in a situation where you’re thinking about what to say just before you need to say it.
You never want to lose out to an objection that you knew you were going to get.
Mistake No. 2: You Fail to Set Out An Agenda
Clarity is so important for gaining trust in successful negotiations.
Setting out an agenda achieves this.
Think of it as setting the stage, or pre-framing the conversation.
Ultimately, you’re the leader of this call and they’re here to find out what you do and what you offer.
Remember, your service likely solves their problem.
Solid pre-framing allows you to set an agenda and keep the call on track.
Tips for setting out an agenda:
- Map out the structure of the phone call - Set out the agenda, tell them how the conversation will go and what the stages of the conversation will be.
- Spend a little time finding out more about them - This is their time to feel seen and heard. Be friendly but professional.
- Reserve time at the end of the phone call - Tell them that there will be time at the end of the call to ask any questions they might have.
- Get their buy-in - Be clear that you’ll talk about the services you can offer them during the reserved question time. Ask them if they are ok with this.
- Find out their intentions - Ask them what they want from this call, and what will make it a success for them.
- Have questions ready - You can prepare from the answers they’ve already given you in the pre-qualifying questionnaire.
- Script out the conversation - having a prepared script can be a powerful thing. You’ll feel freer and a lot more confident.
Mistake No. 3 - You Don’t Ask For The Business
This is, by far, the most common mistake made. And it can be so frustrating, especially when everything has gone so well.
The call had potential, the conversation went well, the stage was set.
BUT you didn’t dare to ask for the business.
You’re not alone – asking this question is awkward and scary.
Have The Courage To Have The Hard Conversations
If you’ve stayed curious throughout the call and learned about them and what they’re looking for, asking for the business won’t be hard.
You don’t need to feel awkward. They’ve spent however long on this call actively looking for a solution to a problem that you can solve.
The problem they came looking for answers to is still there. Don’t be too quick to buy into any objections.
If you‘ve set out the agenda well at the beginning of the call they know that this conversation is coming and they’ve already agreed to it.
In Conclusion:
These 3 mistakes are simple to make but can really hold you back. Making your sales calls uncomfortable, frustrating, and disappointing for all involved. But the solutions are simple and will have a big impact fast if you implement them.
Pre-qualifying allows you to stop wasting your and their time.
A solid pre-frame and agenda mean that the client knows what’s coming. The stage is set to have those hard conversations and make a sale.
Setting out an agenda means that there won’t be any surprises. You’ve set them up for what’s ahead; a sales call.
It’s so easy to ask for the business once you’ve done the groundwork.
