Ok… let’s cut the crap!
We ALL HATE Cold Calling…
In fact, some of us may even hate calling AND selling on the phone. Or even hate the phone itself as a business tool for that matter.
YUCK!
It’s an interruption.
It’s super annoying when someone calls and says, “Hi… is this so and so? GREAT! This is Suzie and I’d like to ask you a question. You would agree that our product/service is the best out there and you would be silly not to buy from me right?”
To which we reply; “ummmm who is this again?” And then they hang up. 😳
What you don’t know is that the person on the other end, who just hung up on you, is cursing you out and wishing you not so nice things, because you did not buy from them.
As if it was your fault that they suck on the phone.
Tisk tisk tisk.
And maybe you’re that person who has to use the phone for business, whether cold calling, selling, or just doing business on the phone where you need to either get agreements, or negotiate things, or just move things along.
Perhaps you are not a fan of the phone either.
97% of people who are in sales, or in any form of business communication where persuasion is required HATE the phone.
Does that seem like an unreasonable statistic to you?
Yeah.. Me neither!
But here is the REAL problem.
It clearly isn’t the phone, but the way in which WE approach the use of the phone that causes us angst, and frankly lots of lost money.
I’m almost certain you won’t care when I tell you that I have made tens of millions of dollars on the phone. Not in “revenue”, but in NET INCOME.
And I know you definitely won’t care when I tell you I did it in the most unexciting industry EVER, Ink and Toner. In fact, we are STILL doing it, today, as I write this.
But let’s leave that for another conversation. And I only mention those two things because a. I want you to understand that I am writing from a position of strength because I have done it, and b. I/we are still doing it.
This is only important in that I want you to believe me when I tell you the phone is the single most underutilized tool in business today, and one, that when mastered will not only put more money into your pocket, but change everything in your life forever.
How can I make this claim?
Let me share with you how I have used my Success Selling System That Never Fails to create a fortune for myself, and others.
Ok so I lied, it will be IMPOSSIBLE for me to give you the keys to the kingdom in this short blog, BUT I can definitely give you tools that will help you TODAY.
Ok – first things first.
Selling on the phone (and anywhere for that matter) should be a systematic and artistic process. One that ANYBODY can do (this is critical, because if it cannot be duplicated by anybody, then you have not yet reached it’s optimal state).
You will need to have ALL these tools at your disposable.
1. A flow chart (or several)
2. A presentation (or several)
3. Answers to objections (all of them) 4. Stalling Questions
5. Closes
6. The #’s sheet
7. Selling principles (like The Master Closing formula, bakers dozen, etc.)
You will need to have them ALL memorized, but ONLY after you have figured out which ones work best for YOUR situation. Now this is much easier than it may seem, but it will take a little bit of time. Not too much time, just about 30 days give or take.
You will also need to understand HOW the sales process REALLY goes… like this.
1. Get their attention
2. Build rapport (unconscious rapport, not just conscious rapport – one gets you results the other just gets you to be nice to)
3. Gather information (ONLY what you need to make a presentation)
4. Get them engaged in the offer (if they are not engaged, nothing will happen)
5. Get them to say NO (YES, NO is what we are looking for, because nothing starts until they say NO.)
6. Close them until you get a YES (WHAT!?!?! Shutter the thought – you might say – you had me, up until here)
OK, look, you can tell by now, that I am NOT trying to “make you feel good” and get you some lame blog that you can read, feel good and then throw away or even share with your co-workers.
NOPE!
That is NOT me.
I am here to share with you the TRUTH of what actually works, has worked, and will ALWAYS WORK.
Remember I told you that I could not give you the keys to the kingdom in a small blog, but I wanted to give you actionable information that will make you better on the phone TODAY.
Well here it is, YOU MUST CLOSE 8 TIMES TO GET THE ORDER.
Nothing happens until you close, most people aren’t gonna say “gee I am so glad you talked and talked and talked and talked and talked, because now I want to buy.”
It doesn’t work like that – sure we may have one of those occasionally, and then we figure they are all like that.
This is where most salespeople get in trouble, because now they’ve “learned” that this is “how it’s supposed to work”. And to avoid the pain of being on the phone and what have you, they just go thru the day and play the numbers game ONLY.
This is a recipe for disaster, because it does 2 things.
1. It keeps your closing ratio below what it could be (by A LOT).
2. It stops you from becoming better and increasing your ratios (by A LOT)
But there is a trick, and this is where the genius behind being able to use the phone at a high level resides.
Human beings have predictable patterns, and once we uncover those patterns, we can systematize a process that will give us a predictable response.
See the whole genius in this is HAVING a SYSTEMATIC approach that can be duplicated.
Why?
Because, then it’s just a matter of repetition and iteration.
Rejection? Won’t matter!
Failure? Won’t matter!
No sales today? Won’t matter!
Don’t wanna get on the phone today? Won’t matter!
Aren’t good on the phones? Won’t matter!
Hate the phone? Won’t matter!
Because all that will matter is the doing of the systematic approach, and understanding that the process WORKS even when you feel it isn’t working.
See this is where sales people themselves screw up.
They ask for the order, the prospects say NO, or they give an objection and the salesperson is now dejected. Or WORSE, they get emotionally involved and now it is over. (This is a topic for a different blog)
But once you have my Success Selling System That Never Fails applied to your specific situation, you, and others, will have MASTERED HOW TO USE THE PHONE to generate as much money as you want.
