Training Tuesday:Tips for Cold Calling

Cold calling can be intimidating, frustrating, and uncomfortable. It is important to remember that you aren’t trying to make a sale via this first cold call – your only objective on a cold call is to schedule an appointment.  Never attempt to sell at this stage.  The purpose of the initial call is to set up a time for the prospect to hear your presentation. Then when you have that official presentation, you can begin the sales process. It is important to remember that this cold call is your chance to make a great first impression with your prospect – and without it, you may not get the follow up appointment that you need. Below are some tips to make the cold calling process easier and more productive.

  1. Research, research, and more research. Know the decision maker’s information and how you obtained the lead. Never call a prospect without knowing his or her name in advance. Also make sure that you know enough about their company to be confident in your ability to help them. Research the best time to contact your prospects – this can help you ensure that your call will be answered and that the prospect will give you the proper amount of time and attention.
  2. Assume control of the conversation but remain polite and friendly. Practicing a script of sorts can be helpful with this as it allows you to have specific talking points and plans for redirecting the conversation where you want it to go.
  3. Speak with conviction. You have to believe that you and your company can help your customer. Be well prepared with answers to common questions and objections. Make sure that your tone of voice is confident, friendly, and engaging.
  4. Focus on your call. Many people are reluctant to dedicate the proper amount of time to cold calling, but setting aside time to practice what you will say on the call, and then designating distraction-free time for the calls themselves is a great way to improve your success with cold calling.
  5. Keep your goal in mind. The cold call is an unavoidable part of the sales process, but it is also a crucial tool for getting an appointment with a qualified prospect that will lead to a sale. When you are making calls, set goals for yourself for how many calls you’ll make in that time frame. Remember how this task contributes to your overall goals for the day, week, or year and use it to motivate you on each call.

It’s a matter of how you see and carry yourself.  You must always keep in mind that your objective is not to leave the decision in the hands of a third party screening the prospects’ calls.  Your prospect’s decision on who they trust to ship their goods is one of the most important decisions they make. Be persistent.  Make sure they get the opportunity to enjoy the benefits that only you can sell them.

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Training Tuesday:Sales and Closing Techniques

It doesn’t matter how good your selling skills are – if you can’t get a “Yes!” at the end of the sales call, you won’t find success as a salesperson. However, it’s no secret that closing a sale can be a challenge. The best “closes” are actually part of larger sales techniques that support the final push at the end of the meeting. With that in mind, below are some closing techniques that are helpful to have in your arsenal.

1. Emotional Appeal

Humans are emotional creatures. If we feel connected to a person, company, or cause, we are more likely to support them. Complementing the “facts and figures” of your sales presentation with some sort of “feeling” element can lead to a better connection, and therefore make a prospect more apt to say “yes” when you ask for their business. The emotional connection can be established through a variety of techniques, which even if they feel forced initially, can have an equally beneficial effect as organic connections. Things like mentioning shared interests or other commonalities, interjecting humor, or thoughtful things like sending an article appealing to their interests. All of these gradual connections can help increase the likeliness of a prospect doing business with you and your company.

2. Alternatives Close – “This or That”

Decision making can be frustrating, challenging, and even a little scary. A prospect that is talking to you is in the “hot seat” to make a decision and could already be feeling the pressure from others to make the right call about who to work with. If you give them some “alternatives” you can make their decision easier, and encourage them towards the decision you want, which is for them to work with you and your company. A “this or that” question can help ease some of the pressure of the seemingly unlimited choices available. These types of closes are best used over the course of an interaction with a prospective client. They are especially useful for setting up appointments and demos. You can offer two dates or times for a future call, visit, or demo of your products, services, or platforms. Simplifying the process can encourage the prospect to make the decision you ultimately want.

3. Similarity Close

If you can demonstrate that you’ve helped a customer in a similar situation and role, then you can inspire confidence in your prospect. Find out as many details about the prospect as possible and then compare their situation to those of your other clients. Then, in your sales meeting, you can showcase the benefits that those other clients got from working with you, and the prospect is better able to visualize how you could help them and their company. This close works well with the emotional appeal to create a connection with the other prospects that you have helped successfully.

You can pick and choose situations in which these closes may be helpful. They may be helpful as full processes, or you may want to apply elements of a variety of techniques to different sales interactions. Successful selling requires applying the right tool for the situation, at the right time.

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Community Involvement:Proud Sponsor of the 2019 JWLF Forum

SunteckTTS was a proud sponsor of the 2019 Jacksonville Women’s Leadership Forum (JWLF) Forum. JWLF is an organization focused on empowering women in business and encouraging them in their professional lives, through annual forums and educational events.

Additionally, Dave Dallas, CMO and President of Brokerage, participated in a panel at the 2019 Jacksonville Women’s Leadership Forum. 

It was an excellent panel on “Turning Fear Into Fuel: A Conversation with Jacksonville’s Change Makers.” Dave was proud to participate in the panel as a way to introduce SunteckTTS to women business leaders in the Jacksonville community. 

About the Jacksonville Women’s Leadership Forum

The Jacksonville Women’s Leadership Forum is the premiere organization on the First Coast that empowers women to successfully navigate the unique terrain of the corporate workplace and nurture their personal development.  JWLF will help transform the way participants approach leadership, networking, career advancement and life balance.  Through annual Forums and Educational/Networking shops throughout the year, women have the opportunity to gain insights from other smart and successful women all focused on tackling the issues that challenge women working their way to the top.

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