Be a Sales Superstar on the Phones

When it comes to selling to customers, there are a few mandatory rules that help to gain trust and ultimately make the sale. Having been a successful salesperson for many years, these are some of the techniques I use to get and keep my customers' attention. Many were taught to me by those with MBA's but some are my own, learned by working with customers.

1. When it comes to scripts, I never follow them 100%. I can sell being 100% verbatim, but that isn't my style. When selling, my conversion tends to be at around 60% frequently, when the average conversion at my company is somewhere around 30%. Why? Because I follow the script most of the time, but embellish it with a few positive thoughts and words to make it more interesting, without sounding syrupy sweet and annoying. Follow the script enough to make sure all legal and informational bases are covered. This way, you educate your customer, cover your company against potential problems, and give them a little personality to satisfy them psychologically. Relating to the customer is key in getting them to want to listen to you, so weave in your personality, with restraint.

2. Don't be too friendly or you'll kill the sale. Chat too much, and you can lose their respect and come off as a motor-mouth. Think like the customer, what would you think of listening to yourself doing the pitch? Would it make you gag to listen to the presentation of your pitch, or would you want to buy? I have listened to recordings of myself for years, and at first, they made me cringe. Yikes, I sounded overly chit-chatty and enthusiastic! Blech. It's good to be friendly, but overdoing it will make your customer bored and want to hang up on you. How many times have you listened to someone trying to sell something to you, and got turned off by them overselling the product? Find a more professional way of relating by not overdoing it.

3. Stay in control of the call, in a polite, adult manner, no matter what happens. Don't get emotional or nasty back at bullies. Turn them around with firm kindness, and let them know that you hear them, then go back to your pitch. Rebuttal them tactfully, until they buy or hang up. Never raise your voice, or talk over a customer. Stop, listen, then when they finish, start talking again. Use psychology on them by staying calm, let the rudeness roll off your back since the bully wants a reaction. If you give it to him, he "wins" in his mind and will be even more disrespectful. So, make sure they fully understand the promotion calmly. If they hang up on you, then you still did your job. Some will, some won't who cares? Who's next?! That is my motto in selling, since it is impossible to please everyone. After giving it your all on each call, you've done everything you can to get the sale. As for hecklers and punks out to harrass you (those who you know will not buy whatsoever and are being mean about it), don't get mad, just kindly bombard them with every rebuttal with a smile on your face, then you'll have the last laugh as they cut and run.