With the new approach to sales calling, voice-mail is an opportunity for discovery. It leads us beyond voice-mail. Voice mail becomes a starting point for you begin the process of locating the person you’re trying to contact. Our objective is not to pursue people to make a sale in this new way of sales calling. It is to uncover the truth of their situation and to be okay with the outcome, whether it’s a “yes” or a “no.”

So we can begin to feel more comfortable hitting “0” when we get someone’s voice-mail. Because we then have an opportunity to go back to the receptionist and begin a dialogue based on asking for help. Once you master the new sales calling perspective, you’ll feel comfortable calling anyone, any time, using any mode. 

As long as you’re 100 percent focused on your potential client’s world, you’ll find that people will be receptive to you. You can easily navigate throughout an organization with the type of dialogue described above, because you’re asking for help in a relaxed manner and you never put anyone on the spot.

Until next time,

Keep Selling and Using Sales Training to Create Trust…

Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game, makes sales training painless and simple. Learn his sales training secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit www.UnlockTheGame.com.au

 Now you’re probably wondering, “What do I say next?” It’s simple: Make what you say next about the person you’ve called, not about you — and make it specific and compelling to them. 

Don’t go into a pitch the way you would if you were operating out of the traditional sales calling mindset. Try to keep in mind that who you are and what you have to offer are irrelevant at this moment. All that matters is the person you’ve called and the issues or problems they may be having that, down the road, the two of you may decide you can help solve. 

Your next step is to focus on a problem that you believe the other person might have. This wording is crucial, because you’re simply asking them whether they’re open-minded about considering something new that might help to solve the problem. At this point, you might be tempted to slip back into the traditional sales mindset and launch into a mini-presentation about the services you offer. That would be premature at this stage of your conversation. You still don’t know enough about the person you’re speaking with and his or her problem to offer your solution.

Until next time,

Keep Selling and Using Sales Training to Create Trust…

Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game, makes sales training painless and simple. Learn his sales training secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit www.UnlockTheGame.com.au

Does the idea of paging potential clients or calling them on their cell phone make your stomach clench up? Are you thinking that you can’t sales call people that way because they might reject you?

That fear is only to be expected if your agenda is to sell something to the person. In other words, if you’re still using the traditional sales mindset. But once you master the new sales calling perspective, you’ll feel comfortable calling anyone, any time, using any mode. As long as you’re 100 percent focused on your potential client’s world, you’ll find that people will be receptive to you. You can easily navigate throughout an organization with the type of dialogue described above, because you’re asking for help in a relaxed manner and you never put anyone on the spot.

Suppose that your efforts to locate your contact in this way fail. At that point you can leave a voicemail, but it should always be your very last option. Here’s an example of an appropriate sales calling voicemail: 

“Hi John, maybe you can help me out for a second? I’m not sure if you’re the right person or not, but I’m trying to reach the person responsible for reporting problems about unpaid invoices. My name is John Edwards, my number is…” 

Try this way of approaching the situation of voice mails, and you’ll be surprised and pleased at how often it becomes a highway instead of a dead end.

Until next time,

Keep Selling and Using Sales Training to Create Trust…

Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game, makes sales training painless and simple. Learn his sales training secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit www.UnlockTheGame.com.au

When you start sales calls with a mini-pitch about who you are and what you have to offer, you’ve introduced sales pressure right away. Prospects know you want to make a sale, and they have to respond to that pressure. And most will respond with defense or rejection.

 So instead, start your conversation by focusing on a need or issue you know the other person is likely facing. Step into their world and invite them to share whether they’re open to exploring possible solutions with you.

Until next time, 

Keep Selling and Using Sales Training to Create Trust…

Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game, makes sales training painless and simple. Learn his sales training secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit www.UnlockTheGame.com.au

People connect with you when they feel you understand their issues before you focus on yourself and your solutions. Come up with two or three specific problems that your product or service solves. And talk about it with the potential client first, before offering your sales pitch.

When you offer your presentation or solution without first involving the other person by talking about a core problem they might be having, you are focused on the sale rather than the conversation. And your whole energy tends to drive the interaction into a sales mode. Remember, whenever someone feels “chased,” they usually run. 

So stop for a moment. Convey that you’re a problem solver. Invite a mutual exchange of information that explores whether there’s a possibility that the two of you might work together. Help them understand that your thoughts and goals are not focused on selling them anything at all. Most people will welcome your interest in their problem as long as you’re not operating out of the hidden agenda of making a sale. So overcome the temptation to discuss what you have to offer and move into focusing on your caller’s world. Invite discussion during your sales call, express interest, and stop chasing the sale.

Until next time, 

Keep Selling and Using Sales Training to Create Trust… 

Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game, makes sales training painless and simple. Learn his sales training secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit www.UnlockTheGame.com.au

Focus on simply opening the conversation rather than trying to control it, so that potential clients feel comfortable telling you the truth about their situation. We’ve been taught for too long that we have to control the process. We never stop to think that sales calling scripts make it impossible for us to be flexible in how we communicate.

Does surrendering your use of a script seem scary? But when you are able do this, you can begin to engage total strangers on the phone in ways that feel as comfortable as calling a friend. Yes, it’s possible, and don’t let anyone tell you it’s not.

Until next time,

Keep Selling and Using Sales Training to Create Trust…

Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game, makes sales training painless and simple. Learn his sales training secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit www.UnlockTheGame.com.au

In sales the language you use plays a big part in the response you get. Start thinking about language that will engage people rather than language that will trigger rejection. If you can start a sales calling conversation that triggers a “What do you mean?” from the other person, you’ll find you can explain yourself in a natural way. And it also creates a two-way dialogue, which lets you flow with the conversation without feeling you’re getting off-track.

Developing a problem statement makes this whole process much easier. Find out what issue or problem your potential client is likely to be experiencing, and build an open-ended conversation around that.

Here are three basic steps to opening up a dialogue and having a real conversation with your sales calls:

1. Begin with the question, “Maybe you can help me out for a moment?” The reply is almost always something like, “Sure, how can I help you?”

2. Continue with something like, “I’m just calling to see if your company is still having issues with unpaid invoices.” And the response probably will be, “Well, yeah, we are. Who’s this?”

3. You can then respond in a very relaxed tone, “This is John. I’m with XYZ Collection Agency. I’m just calling to see if you’d be open to some new ideas on how to better solve that problem.” This makes it easy for the other person to reply, “What do you mean?” or “Tell me more.” And after that, the possibilities of your conversation are endless.

Try these new sales calling ideas, you’ll be amazed at how much value you receive, both personally and professionally.

Until next time,

Keep Selling and Using Sales Training to Create Trust…

Ari Galper, Founder of Unlock The Game, makes sales training painless and simple. Learn his sales training secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit www.UnlockTheGame.com.au