Nobody likes it when they receive a call from a telemarketer trying to close a sale, truly forcing it to you over the phone. That’s really annoying, isn’t it?
The problem with it is that selling over the phone works, and it works well, which is why most entrepreneurs feel the pressure of picking up the phone and starting to call potential buyers, even though they hate doing it.
And that’s why we still keep receiving those calls throughout our lives, because they work.
You might think that ‘No it doesn’t work, I’ve never bought anything over the phone’, but you’d be wrong.
Even if you’ve never made a purchase over the phone you have picked up something from one of those calls: Brand awareness.
You might have not been aware that company X deals in stylish men’s watches for example, and the next time you’re out there looking to buy a watch for yourself or your partner, you remember the guy calling you and telling you how amazing their watches are.
No matter how little you could care about what they’re selling to you over the phone, they leave an impression to your sub consciousness, which very well might result in a sale later on when you are actually looking to buy a product in the same category.
But why do we hate cold calling so much?
Why does it feel like you’re bullying the person at the other end of the phone call when you’re making that sales call?
Let’s look into some of the facts about sales calls, and how you can stop feeling like a bully when making sales calls.
Getting those numbers
To be able to make sales calls, you need to collect the phone numbers.
If the marketing you’re doing is inbound marketing, then you’ve already received a contact request from a client, and the call will be an easy one.
You don’t even have to feel like a bully when dialling up that number, as the client wanted you to have their information and call it.
When you’re making outbound sales and marketing calls, the situation is completely different.
You’re about to call a person who did not ask for you to call.
Your palms are sweating, your pulse is raising.
You feel the butterflies in your stomach.
Stop.
You’re about to call a person to tell them about your fantastic product that will bring value to their life.
Connie Kadansky, a professional sales coach, states in an interview that you need to believe in your own value.
That’s what you need to do, believe in yourself and believe in the product. Another ambassador for selling over the phone is Grant Cardone who talks about believing in your product so much that you’re doing people a disservice by not showing them the value in your product or service.
This way you can feel confident that the customer can benefit from your call, and all of a sudden you’re feeling a lot less like a bully, and a lot more like a superhero.
When you’re collecting the numbers, be sure to get it right.
You need numbers for people that fit your ideal client and represent your ideal buyer at least to an extent.
Getting the numbers right will make your sales calling feel like a breeze and it’ll be much more profitable than calling people at random.
As always, qualifying prospects before they enter your sales funnel is a core challenge (weeding the good from the bad) but once you master the qualification process, your phone selling skills are almost taken care of completely.
Understanding your customers’ needs
What I said before about helping people by bringing a valuable product into their attention is true, but it only applies when you know what that value is, and why the person on the other end of the call needs it.
You’ve now understood the basics of collecting numbers and believing in the product.
You feel like a superhero until the moment the person picks up the phone and says hello.
You freeze.
You know the feeling I’m talking about right?
Becoming a successful salesperson requires confidence, and calling people over the phone makes you a sales person just as much as the guy visiting businesses and promoting the products.
You need to build up your confidence by knowing what you are going to say to the potential buyer.
By the way, a quick note on the word “salesperson”.
The stigma of calling yourself a “salesman” or “saleswoman” quickly picked up negative connotations to putting pressure on clients and wearing a suit.
It’s very important to realize times have changed, and the pushy salesman no longer has the control. At the end of the day, every business needs to have sales, so in ever business you have a ‘salesman’ whether you know it or not.
You might be a ‘marketer’ or ‘consultant’ but ultimately, to keep any successful and profitable business running you need sales – so embrace the title and allow your business to grow and thrive under that name.
After you’ve come up with a good starting line, focus your efforts on understanding your customers’ needs and how your product can fulfil those needs.
That way you won’t freeze on the phone, as you are doing the person a favour by fixing a problem of theirs.
When you know why you are selling the product and why it can be beneficial to the customer, you don’t need to feel like a bully.
Instead, you’ll be feeling confident that you’re helping people, just like a superhero would and making a profound impact on their lives having absolute certainty that with your help and service they’ll be making a positive shift towards their goals.
Pushing the sales
People mainly hate telemarketers because they try to force a product down the consumer’s’ throats, and you feel like a bully when calling people and pushing the product when they don’t really want to even hear about, so it’s a lose-lose situation.
Instead of pushing your product, try allowing your potential buyers make the decision themselves based on the educating sales pitch you give them.
Formulate your pitch to cover the key areas that your product can help the customer with.
When was the last time you bought a product or service off a cold call or pitch from a telemarketer?
Not too recently right?
So start with value, build that rapport.
This way the customer knows how you can help them, but you didn’t push the product down their throats, allowing them to make the decision.
This leaves the person feeling like they’re in control and they’ll appreciate you for it.
B2B or B2C
B2B is not considered as annoying, SCi Sales Group surveyed managers and got results stating that while 35% of managers find telesales that target them at home or their personal numbers annoying, only 4% of the 200 managers interviewed found telesales to their work annoying.
Again, know your audience.
Cut out the clichés
By using sales phrases such as ‘a unique opportunity’ and ‘money-back guarantee’ you make the customer feel like they are force fed with something they dislike, and will most likely result in a bad experience with you and your brand.
Customers go into sales calls with history and prior connotations of different words and phrases so if you touch on line which they hear left, right and centre, you might hit a nerve, or worse, an objection.
A good way to avoid these phrases is to learn how to say them in a different way.
Avoiding the sales clichés is easy, but communicating your point effectively without them might seem difficult
Managing to get around the overused and tacky phrases will make you feel good about yourself and more comfortable in the shoes of a “phone salesman role”.
Funnel Scripts can help you create sample sales scripts you can use!
Always be polite
This part is really simple.
If you don’t want to feel like a bully, then stop being a pain!
Be polite, don’t curse and most importantly, don’t blame the customer.
You won’t get anything good out of being rude and disrespecting your customers.
We all remember the places where we’ve gotten really bad customer service, or we weren’t being treated the way we deserve to be treated as customers.
That image will stick with the customers for a long, long time, and potentially be spread around.
The word of mouth is powerful in gaining new clients, but it’s also very dangerous when it comes to bad service and negative feelings.
You know the saying “A man with a good experience with a business will share it with his 5 friends, but a man with a bad experience will share it with the neighbourhood”
No need to be negative
Ever had the feeling everything’s going great and life seems to smile at you?
You feel invincible, nothing can stand in your way. Until you run into a person having a bad day, and they’re being negative about every single thing.
Nothing is well and life is horrible.
Suddenly you don’t feel so good anymore, you start having doubts about yourself and the day that’s ahead of you.
You start feeling cranky and negative yourself.
Negativity spreads easily, so be sure to stay positive and keep reassuring your client if they are being negative about your product or call.
Millionaire entrepreneurs all over the world suggest that you should surround yourself with likeminded people, who share your ambitions and goals.
Self-made millionaires value the company of each other, because they don’t find negativity around them, they find passion and the will to win.
Don’t be negative with the client, but use your positive attitude to convince them instead.
And finally…
Stop worrying and pressuring yourself over the call.
It’s not the world final of a 100m sprint at the Olympics.
You are not bullying the customers, you’re helping them out.
By making that call you could be changing their lives for better, starting now.
Feel confident in your abilities and the potential buyer will feel that confidence radiating through the phone and they’ll start believing you.
How would your prospect’s life change in 6 months time if you worked with them vs. them working with one of your competitors?
If you’re not the best sales person in the world, or you’re unsure about how exactly you’re supposed to make the call and what to say, check out this amazing infographic from HubSpot that explains everything you need to know about making sales calls.
Lastly, share your experiences about sales calling.
By sharing your experiences with others you can find support for your own efforts, and inspire many entrepreneurs in overcoming their anxiety and help them make that first call.
Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments section below!
If you’re looking to create or hire someone to create sales scripts for your calls, you can try out Funnel Scripts first. You can use the scripts for your ad copies, landing page copies, social media ad copies and you can also add them to your call scripts.
It’s also very easy to use!
ClickFunnels Action Steps
To show you how easy to use Funnel Scripts is, check out this walk-through:
How to Create Special Offer Script
Step 1: Log in to your Funnel Scripts account. You can pick up a copy here if you haven’t registered for an account yet.
Step 2: Head on to the dashboard and choose the script you want to create on the left-hand side.
Step 3: You can choose to watch the quick tutorial on how to use the generator or simply skip this step if you already have experience.
Step 4: Fill in the information needed in the generator.
1. Enter the timeframe of the offer
2. Enter the deal that comes with your offer
3. Enter the product or service you are offering
4. Enter information about your product or service
5. Enter the URL where they can check out the original or regular price
6. Enter the deadline for the deeal
7. Enter the regular price
8. Enter the deal price
9. Enter information about the benefits of your offer
10. Enter more information about the benefits of your offer
11. Enter further information about the benefits of your offer
12. Enter information about what’s in it for them
13. Enter information about what’s in it for them
14. Enter information about what’s in it for them
15. Enter information about what’s in it for them
16. Enter information about what’s in it for them
Step 5: Click “Save” or “Submit”
After clicking “Save”, a text file will be downloaded immediately.
After Clicking “Submit”, you will be given samples based on the information you entered.