Your telesales calls will be more effective if you’re ready with some good strong reason statements.
The reason they’re important is that you want to grab and then hold the attention of the decision-maker you’ve got through to. Chances are you’ve also made lots of calls to them already in an attempt to get through. This is now your big moment. Don’t blow it!
After you’ve introduced yourself with your 3 strand introduction defined elsewhere you want to let them know the reason you’re calling.
Following up
It may be you’re following up a quote, or a call to further some discussions. In either case set the agenda, let them know that you’re clear on why you’re calling. Hopefully it won’t sound too salesy at this point.
You might say “I’m calling to follow up the proposal I sent you through early last week. I wanted to know what your thoughts are.” Alternatively you might say “we spoke last week and you said you might know a bit more about your plans when you’d spoken to Graham. Tell me have you had a chat with Graham?”
Building in continuity – stopping it being a cold call
Frequently you’ll be calling people you’ve spoken to before, but this could be a long time ago, and they probably won’t remember you. However if you can repeat information back to them that they gave you on the last call, you’ll find they will listen to you, and you ‘prove’ you’ve spoken to them before, and that there is some continuity here.
Let’s assume it’s a year since you last spoke to them. Your reason statement might sound like “When we spoke a year ago, you said that since the takeover things had been a little ‘chaotic’ and that you’d need to wait for this to settle down before you started reviewing your xy supplier. How have things gone over the last year or so?”
Cold calling
It might be obvious to think that a reason statement isn’t useful or relevant on a cold call. Oh YES it is !
Again, if you can’t give a reason statement, that means even you don’t know why you’re calling! Not great selling. You’ll want them to know that you’ve picked them out and why.
“I was having a look around your website and I noticed that you a meat company. We specialise in manufacturing plastic trays for the food industry. Tell me who supplies your trays at the moment?”
Or it could be that “we’re proud to say we already supply analytical tools software to 17 of the FTSE Top 100, and therefore I thought it would be worth talking to you. ” This type of specific, targeted, concise introduction will help you win and then keep the prospects attention.
Once you’ve used your 3 strand intro and now your reason statements, you’ll be ready to start offering some benefit statements. We cover all of these topics in our audio CD called Selling more on the phone – how to get the opening right.
To Market provides telephone sales training to companies across the UK, and has recently worked in Birmingham, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Coventry, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby, Leamington Spa, Kenilworth, Rutland, Northampton, Soihull, Redditch, Lichfield, Cambridge, St. Ives, Bury St. Edmunds, as well as wider parts of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire. Contact us through the website at info@tomarket.co.uk or simply call 01858 461148.
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