Achieving Sales on the Telephone Certificate
About this course
The telephone is a vital, yet often misused, business tool.
In some industries, over 90% of customer interaction is over the telephone and a shocking 78% of customers report cancelling intended purchases after poor telephone interactions with businesses.
Poor communication causes endless problems in the world - from personal relationships, to business transactions. Ensuring the correct message is communicated effectively and sufficiently would save a lot of time, trouble and potential heartache too. A significant amount of human communication is via non-verbal prompts, including body language, which means telephone interactions have their own unique set of challenges and opportunities.
Improving your telephone talents requires dedication to developing the skills to deliver clear and direct communications through careful choice of words and appropriate use of tone and pitch in your delivery. Learning how to effectively converse over the telephone generates a huge personal and business asset, which will improve your telephone sales skills and your ability to communicate via all other mediums.
1.2 Telephone Sales
For those who learn to excel, telephone sales can be a very lucrative career. Basic salary and commission can exceed industry averages, based on age and experience -specifically during times of economic difficulty, as companies put additional resources into selling to maintain cash flow. Globalization has increased the volume and revenue from telephone sales, as they have a reach far exceeding the possibilities of face to face interactions. Sales are crucial for any organization and exceptional sales people are highly valued for their ability to bring in money. Without sales, there would be no business.
For those who take the time to develop new skills and enhance existing ones, the rewards can be significant and there are many options for career progression within the role - including account and team management. The ability to develop relationships with your customers and maintain a positive attitude is fundamental to success in this role. This course will help you to develop the interpersonal skills required to enhance your ability to build trust with callers and sell products and services. Telephone communication is different to in-person discussions and requires highly structured and organized information presentation. You will also learn how to present your product, understand
your customer and enhance your ability to sell with confidence.
1.3 Telephone Doubt
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Negative experiences, combined with a lack of confidence, can maketelephone interactions a frightening and frustrating experience for many people.
Fortunately, telephone confidence and competence are skills which you are going to learn and withpractice and a little patience, you will see positive results - achieving sales and feeling more relaxedand capable over the telephone. Rejection is a common outcome for telephone sales calls and, ifallowed, this can significantly dent self-belief.However, top performing sales people learn not totake rejection personally and instead reflect on their experiences and successes to significantlyoutperform their colleagues.
The best sales people outperform average performers by 2:1 and outperform low performers by 10:1- this huge difference is not by accident, but through diligent preparation, skill development and, most vitally, perseverance.
FACT
Only 2% of sales are made in the first contact and this only increases to an average of 5% by the 3rdcontact. The overwhelming majority of sales are made between the 5th and 12th contact with a potential customer clearly highlighting the need for both persistence and building a relationship with your prospect.
1.4 First Impressions
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When interacting with clients, over the telephone or face to face, you are creating a lasting impression of yourself and the business you represent.
The positive or negative image you generate will stick with your customers, so it is critical to get itright the first time.
Developing rapport, resolving problems and communicating confidently will generate satisfiedcustomers, who will make repeat purchases and, on average, tell 20 friends about their positiveexperience. Customers are looking fortelephone interactions where they feel the operative isgenuinely interested in solving their problems and meeting their needs.
Friendliness and a pleasant tone of voice are key to generating trust and taking personalresponsibility for solving problems is valued exceptionally highly; nobody likes being bouncedaround departments to resolve their problems. Rapid resolution of issues and answering enquiriesquickly also enhance customer experience and satisfaction.
There are several phrases that customers simply do not want to hear - these include “No”, “I don'tknow”, “That's not my job/department”, “Calm down”, “I'm busy”, “Call me back”, “That's not myfault” and ”You need to talk to my supervisor”.Instead, taking the time to listen to your customers and resolving their problems personally, willgain you valuable respect and future sales. General politeness and manners go a long way toimproving customer experience. Using a customer's name and remembering to say please and thankyou makes a bigger difference than many people realise, often on a subconscious level. Remarkably,even without face to face interaction we have an innate ability to sense the mood and even facialgestures of callers. Remembering to smile when you are speaking is an excellent emotional ice-breaker.
1.5 Telephone Beliefs
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Reflecting on your own experience of making and receiving telephone calls, specifically sales calls, will identify your own beliefs (both positive andnegative) about this method of interaction.
If you have limiting beliefs, for example “everybody hates receiving sales calls”, you will find thatyou carry this belief into your customer interactions. Just like a self-fulfilling prophecy, pre-emptingfailure and assuming nobody wants to hear your pitch, will generate exactly that experience.
1.6 Exercise: Your Telephone Blueprint
Estimated Time: 15 minutes
To identify your own beliefs and expectations, ask yourself the following questions and simply reflect
on your responses:
Do people generally like receiving sales calls? Why is this?
Who benefits from sales calls? Why is this?
How do you feel about RECEIVING sales calls?
How do you feel about MAKING sales calls?
What emotions are triggered when you think about making sales calls?
If your answers do not support the idea that sales calls are an essential element to business andcustomer interaction which are valued by BOTH parties, then you would benefit from reframingsome of your own beliefs. The reputation of sales calls has been damaged by inadequate stafftraining and a lack of business and customer alignment and most of us have had poor experiences
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with sales calls - but it doesn't have to be this way. When correctly targeted, planned and delivered,many customers are pleased to receive the personal attention – especially when coupled with agenuine desire to meet their needs in a timely and effective manner. Decide how YOUR sales callsare going to deliver positive customer experiences, gaining trust and developing a relationship withyour potential client.
Answer the following questions about your FUTURE sales self, with the confidence andcharisma to exceed your sales targets and satisfy your customers.
Will people generally like receiving sales calls from YOU? Why is this?
Who will benefit from YOUR sales calls? Why is this?
How will you feel about RECEIVING sales calls?
How will you feel about MAKING sales calls?
What emotions do you want to be triggered when you think about sales calls?
Deciding how your calls will be different and anticipating the quality and value that you are going todeliver, will establish the positive expectations that define your ability to successfully master thismethod of customer interaction.
1.7 The Skill Set Required for Successful Telesales
Developing the ability to effectively communicate is a core skill that, once in place,enhances all forms of interaction and relationship development.
To become the best possible telephone sales person, additional skills and qualities can be developed which improve not only the customer interaction, but also the ability to plan and achieve sales targets, manage time effectively and also build meaningful customer relationships.
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The below following table highlights essential skills which, when developed, will improve salesresults and enhance your customer's experience in interactions with you. Job satisfaction andresilience to stress, is greatly enhanced by setting personal development targets, which better equipyou to perform well in telephone sales roles.
The unfulfilling or negative experiences some individuals experience in this role are typically the result of poor training and inadequate support and not directly attributable to the role itself. When reviewing the skills required, make an honest and objective appraisal of areas which you would benefit from developing, which you can add to your own development plan. Developing the skills and strengths to enable you to perform effectively in this role will gradually build your confidence, increase job satisfaction and vitally deliver positive results and financial benefits in the form of
commissions. Attention to continued personal development is a critical competency which makes any job more satisfying.
Equipping yourself with the correct tools to perform your role with impeccability will increase job satisfaction and reduce stress. At the end of this training, you are provided with the opportunity to define the personal development objectives that will further enhance your skills and shape your future success.
SKILL VALUE ADDED
Active
listening
Feeling listened to is important to all of us, specifically customers on the telephone. In faceto face interactions, non-verbal cues communicate that the other person is listening, forexample, nodding the head and making positive noises like “ummm hmmm”. Duringtelephone interactions, different methodologies need to be employed to ensure thecustomer feels valued and heard in the interaction.Active listening is more than simply hearing what is being said, it generates a depth ofunderstanding including emotional needs and uncommunicated requirements – teasing out
information, until you can genuinely see and feel the situation from the other person's perspective.
Articulate
Being able to successfully get your meaning across requires a depth of vocabulary and dedication to effective communication. People do not like having their time wasted on the telephone and learning how to succinctly communicate requires the appropriate vocabulary and often industry specific terminology. If you feel your language skills are lacking and you find expressing yourself difficult, then taking the time to read more and, specifically, learning new words, will enhance your abilities and your confidence.
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SKILL VALUE ADDED
Confidence
How you feel about your own skills, strengths and qualities determines your performance.People who believe in themselves and work on enhancing their self-esteem, outperformcolleagues who doubt their abilities. Fortunately, self-esteem is more like a muscle than abone and can be developed with the right tools and support.Learning new skills and following a structured personal development plan will bothenhance personal belief and job confidence, which in turn improves results – creating apositive feedback loop that enhances success.A general lack of personal confidence will negatively impact your ability to succeedthroughout life and taking the time to appreciate the unique qualities, skills and gifts youprovide will highlight the positives and identify potential areas for growth. Confidence andsuccess go hand in hand and both are grown organically over time. Feeling confident inyour ability to successfully interact with people is communicated in your tone and will bepicked up by your callers. The more confident you feel, the easier it is for your customersto relax and gain trust, enhancing both your experience and theirs. Initially, thisconfidence may have to be forced (“fake it until you make it”), but gradually you willdevelop more self-assurance and feel relaxed and confident in your interactions.Dedicated development and practice, combined with reflection on what works for youpersonally, will gradually increase the belief in your capacity to meet personal goals andbusiness targets.
Determination
To be successful in sales requires a lot of determination and perseverance. Rejection canbe frequent and learning to accept it without taking it personally requires significantresolve. Honest and frequent personal reflection will help you find areas for growth andenhance your skills.Telephone sales can be stressful if you allow it to be. Taking rejections personally andseeing them as failures will prevent you from spotting and enhancing ways in which you
are successful.To be effective in sales requires personal determination to succeed and the ability tomove on and pick yourself up after unsuccessful interactions. With perseverance, you willquickly realise that sales is a numbers game – a game which can be influenced by theskills you demonstrate and the attitude you bring to your telephone interactions. Startingeach call with a fresh and positive expectation will dramatically influence your results.
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SKILL VALUE ADDED
Focussed
Focussing on a conversation when the other person is not physically present with yourequires concentration. Stilling the mental chatter and eliminating distractions willdemonstrate that you are listening and help you to pick out the information expressed, orwithheld, by your caller. Listening fully and ensuring you have understood requires a
significant level of attention and mental strength, to allow the other person to be fullyheard. The ability to maintain focus on a single task requires a mental discipline manypeople do not take the time to learn. Although we are able to multi-task, research clearlyshows we do not perform at our best when we do.Our fast-paced lives and multiple distractions, including technology grabbing ourattention, mean we are simply not used to singular focus and without active mentalmanagement your caller will pick up on this. Practically, this means you need to removedistractions from your working environment and find ways to enhance your ability tomaintain your attention. Mindfulness practices and meditation both strengthen your abilityto reign in your “monkey mind” and train it to maintain concentration. Putting all yourmental energy into one task, instead of sharing between multiple or irrelevant thoughts, will enhance your ability to maintain focus, listen to and meet your caller's needs.
Intrapersonal
skills
Demonstrating respect and showing courtesy to your callers will support yourdevelopment of meaningful relationships over time. Cultural or social differences as aresult of different upbringings need to be understood and overcome, to bridge the gapbetween individuals with different backgrounds and experiences.Depending on the interactions you are going to be having, culturally specific training maybe needed to ensure your intrapersonal skills are appropriate for your customers.Selecting the appropriate greetings, tone and friendless requires an understanding ofpotential differences and social norms.Correctly judging the required formality of an interaction will effectively bring peopletogether, while incorrectly gaging it with an inappropriate selection of words or tone, can
alienate your potential customers and create unnecessary conflict and distrust.
Organised
The volume of repeated interactions required to generate successful sales requiresorganisation and planning. Ensuring you follow up with customers is vital, as the vastmajority of sales come from relationships which have been actively worked on and notfrom the first interaction. Fortunately, sales technology such as Customer Relationship
Management systems will help you record and manage the repeat interactions that arenecessary to achieve results. Moving prospects through the sales funnel requires targetedand purposeful interactions, delivered in a timely manner.Personal organisation and planning are needed to ensure your time is used effectively.Setting goals and targets will help you to maintain motivation and feel a sense ofaccomplishment, which will motivate you to continue. Without organisation, it is difficult tosee progress, which will, in turn, reduce motivation and impact your results.
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SKILL VALUE ADDED
Perspective
Overcoming the distance between you and your telephone customer requires seeingthings from their perspective. Without the physical closeness of face to face contact, it iseasy to lose sight of the fact that you are having a real interaction with another humanbeing who has practical and emotional needs which require support. Robotically
interacting with customers is one of the many reasons cited for negative telephoneexperiences, made worse by enforced rigidity to call scripts.Remembering that you are dealing with somebody who requires your help and attentionand seeing the situation from their perspective, will enhance your communications and
ensure your customer feels valued.
Reflection
The best sales people develop their own personal style and focus on what works for them.To do this, frequent and honest personal reflection is needed.Taking a reflective, rather than critical, perspective on your skills and strengths will helpyou dedicate time to the areas of personal growth which would benefit you the most.Ignoring problems and patterns will gradually wear down your sales esteem and preventyou from performing the analysis which would improve your results. In addition toreviewing your own experiences, gathering feedback is the key to enhancing your skills.Learning to accept, reflect and respond to both positive and negative critique is a rapidpath to personal growth, naturally enhancing your business success.
Research
Understanding your target market and your own business and products is essential tocorrectly mapping customer needs to your product or services capacity to meet thoseneeds. If you neither understand who you are selling to, nor what you are selling, thenthere is very little chance you will be able to persuade your prospect that you have
something they need.Researching your target market and asking a lot of questions when you interact will help
you understand their real needs, instead of assuming you know what they want. The more you know about your potential customers and the products or services you are selling, the easier it is for your callers to gain confidence in your ability to help them.
Self-motivated
Sales are an active skill - you simply cannot sit back and wait for sales to happen. Self-motivation is needed to keep you focused, avoid procrastination and stick to goals. Settingyour own goals and giving yourself rewards will maintain motivation, especially when sales are less frequent.
Solutions focussed
Taking the initiative and looking for solutions to create win-win situations will be greatly appreciated by your customers, who value you putting them first and looking for creative ways to help them.
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SKILL VALUE ADDED
Time management
To manage a large number of interactions requires careful planning and timemanagement. Without attention to where your own time goes, you can waste significantamounts in activities which are not fruitful. Monitoring your own time and correlating it toyour results can help you see which activities require more of your attention. Do you need
to spend more time in a specific area of the sales process, such as generating leads, or areyou missing out on valuable follow-up calls? With many people and tasks requiring yourattention, you need to be strict in how you choose to spend your time. ;Huge amounts ofvaluable time can be eaten up by activities which do not add value, if you do not plan howyour time is best spent.Depending on the nature of the sales calls you are making, significant time may be neededto invest in developing personal relationships - the value of which is often underestimated.Finding a balance between time which develops obvious revenue and time which isinvested in relationship development is important for getting immediate results, whilstsecuring the foundation for future transactions which can deliver a higher value.
Measuring your own return on investment (from a time perspective) can be an eye openingexperience. The first step is monitoring and analysing where your time goes and there aremany free productivity tools, such as Toggl, which will help you do this.
1.8 Telephone Etiquette
There are some general rules which can be applied to telephone interactions, which fall under the category of etiquette.Quite different from how you would engage with friends or colleagues over the telephone, there is alevel of formality and politeness that is expected and appreciated by your callers.
For example:
Always ask (not tell) the caller if you can put them on hold and wait for their response. Alsoensure they are aware of how long they are likely to be on hold for and critically, why you are
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Thank your callers for their time, specifically if they have been kept waiting before their call isanswered or they have been on holdWhen you need to transfer a call, explain to the caller why this is needed and confirm this isok. Customers typically prefer to deal with less points of contact so if you are able to deal withthe enquiry yourself, it will improve the customer's experience. If the caller has already beentransferred around multiple departments, expect them to resist being transferred yet againand see if you can determine why they are not getting the information or service they need toresolve their enquiry.If you are taking messages for a colleague, ensure you briefly (and professionally!) explain whythey are not available and the anticipated response time. If you are able to assist the caller
yourself, offer to do this and let the customer determine how they would like to proceed.
1.9 Tone of Voice
Developing a friendly and positive telephone manner is a highly cost-effective way toproduce better customer service and with it, improved sales.
Your tone of voice can communicate more than the words you are using, so specificattention and practice is required to ensure your message is delivered with the intonationyou intend.If your tone of voice is too flat then you sound bored, giving out the wrong signals to yourcustomer. Ideally, you would choose to sound like you are enjoying the interaction and arehappy to be helping the caller.If your speech is too slow, you communicate a lack of enthusiasm for what you are doing,which will not help the customer get excited about buying something from you!Talking too loudly denotes aggression and talking too quietly conveys a lack of confidence (andbelief in your product) whilst frustrating the caller, as they cannot hear what is being said.Conveying enthusiasm and excitement with variations in the pitch of your voice (and avoidinglower pitches), will help your customers develop the same emotional responses. Essentially,they will mirror your positivity and enthusiasm for the product or service - helping them
naturally want to make a purchase.
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1.10 Personal Experience
Your own experience of using the telephone has a significant impact on your personalstyle.Both positive and negative experiences of making or receiving calls, shapes your beliefs - whichsteer expectations and determine actual results. Fortunately, you get to decide how you are going tobe on the telephone and taking the time to develop a specific persona or character to get into duringyour interactions, can make it easier to maintain the tone and charisma needed to win sales.
1.11 Exercise – Developing your Telephone Personal
Estimated Time: 30 minutes
Review your own telephone experiences to pick out highlights and lowlights and use this to begin to develop the persona you would like to communicate in your sales calls. Describe one or more negative telephone interactions/experiences you have had with a business.
Why was this experience “less than wonderful” for you?
What skills or qualities were lacking in this interaction?
Describe one or more positive telephone interactions/experiences you have had with a
business.
Why was this experience positive for you?
What skills or qualities were demonstrated in this interaction?
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Now reflect on what qualities, attributes, skills and strengths YOU want to bring to your interactionswith callers. How will you ensure that you make a lasting positive impression on your potentialcustomers? Define and describe your telephone personality in as much depth as possible - you caneven give your new persona a different name and use a prop to help you get into character. You willbe amazed at how much more confidence you can feel by “wearing” a new personality whilst you areon the telephone. Who are you going to be?
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