Recently, I was working with a group of inside salespeople. Beyond the normal sales process, there’s a formula for successfully selling on the telephone.
When you’re selling on the phone, it can be a bit more difficult to read your prospect than if you’re face-to-face. But, it’s no less important to adapt to a prospect’s style on the phone than it is in person. The secret is reading the tealeaves to determine how to most effectively communicate with your prospect. Here’s what I mean…
Tone + Content = How To Sell to Me
Tone includes things like:
- Volume: How loudly do they speak?
- Speed: How quickly?
- Interruptions: Do they interrupt you?
- Attitude: What’s their attitude toward your call?
- Patience: How patient are they with you?
- Emphasis: What are they emphasizing?
Content includes things like:
- Questions: What are they asking you?
- Responses: What are they telling you?
- Word Choice: What words are they using?
- Precision: How precisely are they speaking?
>>> Loud/Fast/Abrupt + Short/Clipped = Get to the point
>>> Quite/Accommodating + Lengthy = Listen to Me
By the way…one of the greatest (phone) sales lessons? “Never interrupt, but always be interruptable.”
What other clues do you listen for on the phone?
