Archives for December 2007
#10 of 10 Telephone Sales Tips on how to create a positive image
Prepare yourself for making your calls by getting into the right frame of mind
Know when to say “goodbyeâ€!
The thinking behind this one originally was that you could actually ruin or lose a business opportunity by not courteously and speedily wrapping the call up once you’d achieved your goal.
The idea was that the other person then had time to start thinking about whether he had made the right decision and, more often than not, would reverse it.
Now that implies a certain degree of ‘hard sell’ that doesn’t really apply to the way that most business is done. Yet the message itself is still valid if we look at it a different way:
These days, more than ever, people are bombarded with advertising messages every which way they turn, from every media you can think of. They are time- and attention-poor. So I’m going to take that tip, change its emphasis and wrap up this series of 10 tips by saying:
Get in there, talk to the right person, state the reason for your call succinctly and politely, ask relevant questions, listen to the answers, don’t overstay your welcome and use the telephone to help you build profitable relationships.
Simple. (Maybe not easy, but, yes, simple.)
Have fun 
Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
#9 of 10 Telephone Sales Tips on how to create a positive image
Prepare yourself for making your calls by getting into the right frame of mind
Be genuinely interested in what your contact has to say
Probably because of the years of experience of business telephone use I’ve had, even though I can’t see what’s going on at the other end of the phone, I can tell whether the person I’m conversing with is taking any notice of my end of the conversation or not. Even if I’m using Skype (where I find the quality can vary) I still usually know if the other person has become distracted. Believe it or not I find that the quality of the silence actually changes!
However, I have to accept that not many people will have had (or want!) that degree of telephone experience. So an easy suggestion to get round that is to remember your manners:
Don’t hog the conversation and do show genuine interest in the other person: It’s difficult to ignore someone who is asking you intelligent, meaningful questions and giving you his or her full attention!
(This tip also ties in neatly with Tip #5: Be a good listener)
Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
#8 of 10 Telephone Sales Tips on how to create a positive image
Prepare yourself for making your calls by getting into the right frame of mind
Be direct
This is different from Tip #2: Respect your listener’s time, when we were talking about getting to the point of the call.
Here we’re looking at the language you use and our advice is:
1 Don’t use long complicated words when everyday short ones will convey the meaning
“Our language is frequently the site of contests between using simple down-to-earth words from Old English (herds of cows) and using more “elevated†or “importantâ€-sounding words from Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or another of the languages from which we have borrowed so much vocabulary (cohorts of bovines).â€
Kenneth G. Wilson (1923 –)
People don’t have the time or inclination to listen to you if you’re pontificating 
and seem merely to love the sound of your own voice. Try it and you may well find you’re pretty soon talking to thin air…
2 Stay away from jargon
This one isn’t necessarily as obvious as you may at first think. Sometimes we become so close to our subject and know it so well that we’re not aware we’re slipping into jargon. If you think this might just apply to you, test out the way you normally speak with prospects on a good mate, one whom you know you can trust to put you straight.
Enjoy your calls
Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
