How To Make Sales Appointments With Proven Cold Calling Techniques
Stephen Craine
November 28, 2008
When making sales appointments by telephone do you know what to say to grab the prospects attention and motivate hem to listen to you?
The first minute of a telephone appointment call is the most important. This is where the prospect decides whether to listen to the rest of the call or not. So what can you say in those first few lines, when you get through to the decision maker, to influence them to listen to what you have to offer? You want effective cold calling techniques and a stunning introduction that grabs their attention and keeps them interested. You also want to stand out from the multitude of other sales calls that potential customers receive.
Making sales appointments is important because unless you can get in front of buyers, you can´t use your sales skills to close deals and gain the rewards. I´ve seen many good sales people struggle in their role because they didn´t invest in learning great cold calling techniques. They didn´t make enough appointments to allow them to achieve sales targets. When you invest in learning how to make sales appointments you´re diary will be full of potential sales opportunities. Working with my sales teams I have developed a proven formula for making sales appointment setting calls. These are proven sales skills that are already being used by successful professional sales people. Now you can benefit from their experience.
A great introduction stage of your appointment setting call must contain brief information about you, your company, and the reason for your call. Just enough to give the prospect the information they need, and not so much that they lose interest or become bored. a good cold calling technique is to add possible benefits for the buyer. The benefits are what motivates the prospect to continue with the call. The secret to making effective sales appointment calls is to use clear, strong, possible benefits for the prospect.
How do you introduce yourself on your appointment telephone calls? There is no right or wrong way, and you should choose the one that´s right for your prospects. Don´t just let it happen. Make a conscious decision on how you will tell the customer who you are. So decide, are you are going to use both your first and last name? Are you going for the formal use of both names, or the informal approach with just your first name? Are you going to use a friendly abbreviation, such as Mike or Deb? Consider the area you are phoning, the culture and age of your prospects, and whether you are phoning business or domestic customers.
Many call center agents start their introduction with, ´My name is.´ Do you want to sound like you´re calling from a large call center? You want to project the impression of an important personal business call, or a friendly information provider. You choose the image that will work best for you in your market. You have many options that all give the prospect different pictures of who you are.
Let me give you some of the techniques I use with my sales teams: If I have previously spoken to a customer I use, ´It´s Stephen Craine.´
Another option is to say, ´I am Stephen Craine.´
Depending on the voice tone this can sound pretentious, almost like an announcement.
The one I particularly like is, ´This is Stephen Craine.´ For my voice tone, and the type of customers I contact, it has the right level of importance, and doesn´t sound like a telesales caller that makes hundreds of calls a day.
Next comes the company name, or in some cases the product name. This is where you are calling from, work for, or you are a part of. Some introduction phrases I´ve heard give the impression of a third party, or not working directly for an organization. These are lines that say, you are phoning on behalf of, or that you represent a company. This can put off some prospects as they will view you as an agent or broker.
A great cold calling technique is to follow the company name with a wide ranging benefit that the customer could gain. You want to spread your net wide, so use a broad benefit that could be an attention grabber for many prospects. Relate the benefit to your company, or product sales message. If you have a unique selling point use it in your benefit statement. You want something that would grab your attention if you were the potential customer. What is there about you, your company, or your product, that puts you above your competitors?
Beware of using benefits that claim you can save the buyer money, unless this is the sales message of your company. Everyone makes this claim and many prospects are now immune to it. It can also lead to the prospect asking for prices over the phone rather than agreeing to meet with you.
You have said who you are, the company you are from, and you´ve caught their attention with a possible benefit. Now comes what my teams say is the most important line of the whole appointment setting call. This is the one line that you must get right. It is; the reason you are calling. When deciding on your reason for calling, take the prospect´s viewpoint. What reason will be a benefit from their perspective? Do not use, being in their area as a reason for calling to make a sales appointment. This implies the prospect, or your product, are not valued highly enough for you to travel any distance.
Consider any new products or services you can now offer. What about updates or changes at your company that will benefit customers. A good cold calling technique on appointment calls is show how you can help the buyer. One of the best reasons for calling to make a sales appointment is, because you have a referral from another happy customer. This type of sales call can be as warm as an incoming lead. You are starting the relationship from a good positive position.
A great selling technique that my sales team use regularly is to ask our existing customers what they think are the strongest benefits they gain from doing business with us. These are real benefits as perceived by real existing customers. You can use them to great effect on telephone calls to make sales appointments.
We´ve only looked at the introduction stage and already you can see how important your choice of words and phrases can be. On appointment setting calls every word counts, so make conscious decisions on everything you say in your introduction. Keep it short and informative, with plenty of benefits from the customer´s viewpoint. And practice your opening lines until you get the words and the voice tone just right.
If you are serious about your sales career, and want a quick and effective training course on making sales appointments, look at what I can offer you and then make a decision on whether it´s right for you. I can now make available the training course I use with my sales teams on appointment making and cold calling techniques. It comes in a complete workbook and you can download it and start using today. Take a look by clicking on Cold Calling Techniques.
The first minute of a telephone appointment call is the most important. This is where the prospect decides whether to listen to the rest of the call or not. So what can you say in those first few lines, when you get through to the decision maker, to influence them to listen to what you have to offer? You want effective cold calling techniques and a stunning introduction that grabs their attention and keeps them interested. You also want to stand out from the multitude of other sales calls that potential customers receive.
Making sales appointments is important because unless you can get in front of buyers, you can´t use your sales skills to close deals and gain the rewards. I´ve seen many good sales people struggle in their role because they didn´t invest in learning great cold calling techniques. They didn´t make enough appointments to allow them to achieve sales targets. When you invest in learning how to make sales appointments you´re diary will be full of potential sales opportunities. Working with my sales teams I have developed a proven formula for making sales appointment setting calls. These are proven sales skills that are already being used by successful professional sales people. Now you can benefit from their experience.
A great introduction stage of your appointment setting call must contain brief information about you, your company, and the reason for your call. Just enough to give the prospect the information they need, and not so much that they lose interest or become bored. a good cold calling technique is to add possible benefits for the buyer. The benefits are what motivates the prospect to continue with the call. The secret to making effective sales appointment calls is to use clear, strong, possible benefits for the prospect.
How do you introduce yourself on your appointment telephone calls? There is no right or wrong way, and you should choose the one that´s right for your prospects. Don´t just let it happen. Make a conscious decision on how you will tell the customer who you are. So decide, are you are going to use both your first and last name? Are you going for the formal use of both names, or the informal approach with just your first name? Are you going to use a friendly abbreviation, such as Mike or Deb? Consider the area you are phoning, the culture and age of your prospects, and whether you are phoning business or domestic customers.
Many call center agents start their introduction with, ´My name is.´ Do you want to sound like you´re calling from a large call center? You want to project the impression of an important personal business call, or a friendly information provider. You choose the image that will work best for you in your market. You have many options that all give the prospect different pictures of who you are.
Let me give you some of the techniques I use with my sales teams: If I have previously spoken to a customer I use, ´It´s Stephen Craine.´
Another option is to say, ´I am Stephen Craine.´
Depending on the voice tone this can sound pretentious, almost like an announcement.
The one I particularly like is, ´This is Stephen Craine.´ For my voice tone, and the type of customers I contact, it has the right level of importance, and doesn´t sound like a telesales caller that makes hundreds of calls a day.
Next comes the company name, or in some cases the product name. This is where you are calling from, work for, or you are a part of. Some introduction phrases I´ve heard give the impression of a third party, or not working directly for an organization. These are lines that say, you are phoning on behalf of, or that you represent a company. This can put off some prospects as they will view you as an agent or broker.
A great cold calling technique is to follow the company name with a wide ranging benefit that the customer could gain. You want to spread your net wide, so use a broad benefit that could be an attention grabber for many prospects. Relate the benefit to your company, or product sales message. If you have a unique selling point use it in your benefit statement. You want something that would grab your attention if you were the potential customer. What is there about you, your company, or your product, that puts you above your competitors?
Beware of using benefits that claim you can save the buyer money, unless this is the sales message of your company. Everyone makes this claim and many prospects are now immune to it. It can also lead to the prospect asking for prices over the phone rather than agreeing to meet with you.
You have said who you are, the company you are from, and you´ve caught their attention with a possible benefit. Now comes what my teams say is the most important line of the whole appointment setting call. This is the one line that you must get right. It is; the reason you are calling. When deciding on your reason for calling, take the prospect´s viewpoint. What reason will be a benefit from their perspective? Do not use, being in their area as a reason for calling to make a sales appointment. This implies the prospect, or your product, are not valued highly enough for you to travel any distance.
Consider any new products or services you can now offer. What about updates or changes at your company that will benefit customers. A good cold calling technique on appointment calls is show how you can help the buyer. One of the best reasons for calling to make a sales appointment is, because you have a referral from another happy customer. This type of sales call can be as warm as an incoming lead. You are starting the relationship from a good positive position.
A great selling technique that my sales team use regularly is to ask our existing customers what they think are the strongest benefits they gain from doing business with us. These are real benefits as perceived by real existing customers. You can use them to great effect on telephone calls to make sales appointments.
We´ve only looked at the introduction stage and already you can see how important your choice of words and phrases can be. On appointment setting calls every word counts, so make conscious decisions on everything you say in your introduction. Keep it short and informative, with plenty of benefits from the customer´s viewpoint. And practice your opening lines until you get the words and the voice tone just right.
If you are serious about your sales career, and want a quick and effective training course on making sales appointments, look at what I can offer you and then make a decision on whether it´s right for you. I can now make available the training course I use with my sales teams on appointment making and cold calling techniques. It comes in a complete workbook and you can download it and start using today. Take a look by clicking on Cold Calling Techniques.
Print
Email
