Do you work in business to business or business to consumer sales? Are you selling wholesaler to retailers or retailer to consumer?
Each has a huge number of nuances and levels. Each has a different approach and different tactics, strategies and scripts.
Endless blogs and whitepapers exist, all providing varying processes and direction and all proclaiming to have the answer.
But one thing is common across all the above.
All the back and forth communication is carried out by two people! So I ask, does it not make sense to ditch all the jargon and just speak to another human?
Avoid thinking on that B2B or B2C level, think H2H – human to human, this simple change has made a huge impact on how we approach our sales calls and subsequently our results.
Consider the following 5 tips and start to implement them in your sales conversations today!
1. Smile
Introduce yourself with a smile. Sound happy to be making the call! It sounds obvious but you would be surprised how many ‘sad’ sales calls people receive!
After your introduction, pause and allow your prospect to respond, let them get a word in! This will also allow you to gauge their mood and your response.
2. Ask
Simply asking the prospect if they have the time to talk now and being empathetic to their current situation can pay huge dividends.
The answer will nearly always be ‘yes’, and if not it always gives you an opportunity to re-schedule.
3. Listen
We have all heard the quote, "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."
Understand the prospects situation and demonstrate interest. Use the prospect’s comments to guide your conversation and create opportunities for higher level questions.
4. Dig
The 5Ws should be your default questioning standard…
- Who
- What
- When
- Where
- Why
Using these simple words allows you to dig deeper into the prospect’s problems and challenges, providing a wealth of information to build a case for your product or service.
5. Next
What is your ideal outcome from the call? If it is to take the conversation further make sure you leave the prospect understanding that the next call will be of value and worthwhile to them and make sure they fully understand what to expect on the call and how long it will last.
Don’t leave it there, follow up your call with an email summary, demonstrating that you actively listened on the call. A calendar invite with attached agenda is also a really worthwhile tactic to implement display professionalism from the outset!
Ultimately, your goal is to make this call as comfortable as possible. Don’t push your product or service onto your prospect, this will only turn them away. Your focus should be on helping the prospect, remember, helping is the new closing!
If you would like to have that human to human (H2H) conversation around how inbound can align results against your company’s growth goals, give us a call, we’d love to help!
