Have A Goal Before Every Call
I hear time and time again a sales rep calling up a prospect or customer and saying things like: I just wanted to check in with you, I just wanted to touch base or I was just follow up. I cringe every time.
Before any call or any appointment, a clear cut goal must be laid out. This may sound silly but you need to know what you are trying to accomplish other than getting the sale. There will be different goals and objectives depending how far along the sales process you are.
For example, if your making your first call, what is the goal of this call? It may be to get a name of a decision maker, send out an information packet with a scheduled call back or appointment time, get a bill to do a savings analysis, or it may be to make a sale. Your pitch will vary for all of these and you will be much less effective if you don’t know what that pitch or goal is.
My bigger pet peave is after a sales rep has made contact and they are “following up” on that contact. What is the point of the follow up? Is it to review the pricing, the terms, see if the contact has read the information, make an appointment, etc? There are so many variables here that you won’t be able to plan for so knowing before the call what you want the outcome to be will help keep you on the right path.
Sales reps that have clear cut goals before each contact is made with a prospect or customer have much more success than those that don’t. Write a list of the most common goals you want to achieve on most of your phone calls and write scripts for each. Be aware of what you want out of each call and watch your sales grow.