Forgotten Art of the Phone: Succeeding in Inside Sales 2.0

Most salespeople cringe at the idea of picking up the phone and dialling it. Why? Nobody like gatekeepers, rejection, or voice mails! This makes sense. However, people forget that the phone is a direct line to the prospect’s organization. This is a big problem if you are in inside sales or telesales. Decision-makers have dealt with hundreds or even thousands of traditional salespeople in their lives, and have an idea that each salesperson is self-serving, pushy, and aggressive. This causes potential buyers to appear unreceptive and emotionally closed over the phone at least 80% of the time. I bet if you think of your own experiences with salespeople, you will agree and share the same view as these buyers.

Most traditional salespeople will agree that potential buyers often reject them before they even have a chance to engage. The idea is to create an environment where the salespeople reduce the customer’s anxiety and ensure that the prospect is open and receptive immediately on the call. But how you ask? Luckily, there are some tips and tricks that inside salespeople can use to succeed at using the phone. By following certain tactics and tips, one can succeed in creating a mutually beneficial and long-lasting relationship with the buyer.

#1. Pass Over the Baton and Don’t Sell Your Product or Service. 
Most decision-makers are emotionally turned off because they are expecting a pushy, confrontational and self-absorbed sales person and you have an extremely small window to change their minds about you. This can be done by not talking about your product or service on your first call. Traditional sales people try to fit square pegs in round holes by leading with their product and service and try to force the buyer into seeing things their way. “Pass the baton” to the buyer and show them that your are not like the 90% of salespeople who take this approach.

#2. Learn About Your Prospect and Learn Some More.
Take on the role of Christopher Columbus and discover. Your first goal needs to be to execute or to schedule a discovery call to learn about all of the needs and goals of the buyer. Without these goals, how can you properly present your product or service optimally to the decision maker? You Can’t.  This is the first step away from the traditional sales approach to a more collaborative and mutually engaging conversation.

#3. Do your Homework and Show it Off.
This requires you to understand the decision-maker’s role and needs. Demonstrate that you did your due diligence by understanding the needs and goals of the buyer’s persona, as well as, the background of their organization. Furthermore, avoid the costly mistake to not doing basic research and prospecting and wasting valuable time asking the decision-maker basic and surface-level questions. Decision-makers have no time to waste by bring the salesperson up-to-speed on information that can be easily found. By demonstrating that you did your due diligence, you build a level of respect and trust with the buyer. This immediately gives you a heir of credibility and trust, and differentiates you from the 90% of traditional salespeople that call the decision-maker.

By understanding the mindset of the prospect, and the psychology of telesales, you will connect with decision-makers and will definitely lead to better results and sales. Good luck and happy hunting.