8 Tips for Productive Sales Calls

 

Sales calls are always challenging, but they don’t have to be difficult. If you know the right tips and tricks, you can make successful sales calls and achieve your goals.

In this blog post, you’ll learn eight valuable phone sales tips that will help you make productive and successful sales calls – and it doesn’t matter whether you work in a home office or in a call center.

 

 

8 Tips for Sales Calls that Will Boost Productivity

In sales, you’ll spend a great amount of time reaching out to leads and prospects over the phone, looking for potential customers who you believe will be a fit for your company.

As such, you should do all that you can to make the most out of these conversations.

 

By the end of a call with a lead, you should:

 

• Understand what motivates the customer.
• Know what the customer wants from your product.
• Have answered any questions the customer had.

 

Completing these steps will help you to overcome objections and generate sales with more consistency. But how can you achieve all this? It’s simple: by following these eight sales tips on the phone!

 

Focus on What’s Important

When you’re making a sales call, it can be easy to get lost in side issues and lose focus on what’s important. The conversation should be about the customer, not about you.

Now you’re probably wondering how to conduct a sales call without forgetting yourself. It’s simple: focus on the customer’s needs, not what you offer. 

 

Ask questions, listen and show interest in what the customer is saying. That way, you’ll learn more about their needs and be able to make them the right offer.

Of course, it’s important that you also know everything there is to know about your own products or services. But in the end, it’s the customer who decides, not you – so make sure they’re the focus.

 

Preparation Is Everything

When you prepare for a sales call, it’s important to think about what exactly you want to achieve. You should be clear about what goal you want to achieve and what kind of outcome is realistic at the end of the conversation. 

From this, you should then derive concrete goals that you want to achieve from the conversation. It is also helpful if you think about the person or company you are going to talk to beforehand and try to get a fuller picture of them.

 

This will give you a better idea of what kind of argument will be best received and which needs should be addressed.

 

Reduce Sales Calls to the Minimum

Whether in B2B or B2C, the majority of salespeople try to have as many conversations with potential customers as possible. This is not only exhausting and time-consuming but also inefficient.

After all, the probability that a conversation will actually lead to a deal is low.

 

Therefore, you should focus on holding effective conversations and qualifying leads.

Qualification is made up of various criteria: 

 

• Ensure that your potential customer is willing to spend money on the product or service in the first place (price projection). 
• Consider whether they actually have/see a need (needs analysis).
• Consider whether they perceive you or your company as a competent contact (trust level). 

 

If at least one of these criteria is not correct or unclear, it is usually not worth investing further in the conversation – unfortunately!

 

Listen 80 Percent and Talk 20 Percent

Of all the sales calls tips in this list, this one is perhaps the most important. We’ve all had a conversation with someone that makes us ask, “When are they going to stop talking and let me get a word in edgewise?”

The answer probably never came because the person just wasn’t interested in you or your opinion.

 

If you want to have productive sales conversations, it’s extremely important that you listen to the other person – and listen carefully!

This means not only letting them talk but also trying to understand what they are saying and why. This is the only way to find out if you are really on the same wavelength and what their needs or fears are.

 

Make It Clear What the Customer Wants from You

Clarity is the key to a productive sales conversation – both for you and for your customer. So before you even start, you should be clear about what exactly the customer wants from you.

Do you have an idea what they’re all about? Good! 

 

Then the next step is to find out if they are really willing to speak to you. Because one thing is for sure: If you know what they want but they don’t even have time to talk to you, let alone buy something – then there’s no point to the whole thing.

So use the time before the conversation well and get smart!

 

 

Jump over Your shadow

Many sales conversations are about convincing the customer of a product or service. However, it is often the case that the salesperson is not really convinced themselves. In this case, it can be helpful first to overcome yourself and jump over your own shadow.

Because if the salesperson does not believe in the product, they will not be able to convince a customer of it.

 

It is, therefore, important that the salesperson first believes in themselves and is prepared to fight for the product or service. This is the only way they can convince the customer of their offer.

So jump over your shadow and dare to fight for what you want to sell!

 

Ask Questions

Salespeople should always try to ask the customer as many questions as possible. This is the only way to find the right starting point for the sales talk.

It also gives them the opportunity to find out exactly what the customer’s needs are and to respond to them in a targeted way.

 

A good method here involves so-called “open questions,” which are intended to encourage the customer to answer in as much detail as possible. 

For example, you could ask a potential customer, “What problems are you currently experiencing with your IT infrastructure?” or “To what extent does our software support you in your daily work?”

 

Avoid Technical Terms

If you’re selling a technical product, it’s likely that your customers don’t know as much about the subject as you do.

So in a sales conversation, it’s very important that you focus on the customer’s needs and explain what exactly your product will do for them. 

 

However, make sure you don’t use overly complex or incomprehensible technical terms – otherwise, you risk confusing or even scaring the customer away. Instead, explain your product as simply and clearly as possible.

If the customer is really convinced at the end of the conversation and knows what they are getting from you and why it makes sense for them, you have a good chance of closing the deal.

 

 

Conclusion

Salespeople should focus on the person they are talking to in order to have productive conversations.

Every potential customer you speak to is, above all, a human being, so it is important that you are authentic and honestly interested in what they have to say. 

 

The above calling tips for sales will not only help you to do this more effectively but also will help you make a real connection with your client, better enabling you as a salesperson.

Try them out for yourself to see what an impact they can have on your performance.