You're sitting in your office. The phone rings. "Good morning, this is Mr. XY from the Meier company. Can I disturb you for a moment?" Phew. Your first thought is: Not another one of those. Before you even know what it's about, you intuitively want to hang up the phone and turn the person away. "No, you can't bother me for a minute." You're busy, your desk is already bending under tasks to be done, and this phone call doesn't suit you. What value can this phone call possibly have to show for itself? And that's how the call ends before it really starts. Sales trainer Tim Taxis shows you how successful cold calling on the phone works.
But what happens when you switch sides and find yourself cold calling as a sales trainer? The idea alone makes many people break out in a sweat. Calling unknown customers without any preliminary work - often no walk in the park. After all, what comes back to you from the phone is usually rather negative. But it doesn't have to be that way! Tim Taxis, expert for sales and marketing, knows how you can motivate your customers to change their mindset with a few simple steps. And you can have fun again Telephone acquisition win.
Replace the old phrases and bad introductions with refreshing new conversation starters. Break away from old patterns that aren't getting you anywhere. Take a different path! Have the courage to be different. Only then will there be no rejection reaction for you from the customer. Always remember: Your customer probably won't turn you away after the first two sentences because he's not interested in your product. Your counterpart just doesn't feel like or have time for a phone call. That's okay, too. You're being met with a relationship-level no. And not a no for personal reasons. But you can have a completely different effect by starting the phone conversation differently. And to do that, you need to reach out to the person first. See your customer as an equal partner in the conversation, not just as a customer! So how do you get to the point where phone canvassing is fun? And not only for your customer, but also for you?
Tim Taxis, sales trainer, has set up the following theses: Already at the beginning of the phone call, your customer asks himself the following questions, which you should quickly answer specifically.
The customer wants to know who he is communicating with. Introduce yourself and your company. Limit yourself to important information and don't start rattling off everything about your product in one breath. Nobody can remember that and overwhelmed at the same time. Only concrete information that offers added value is optimal and useful for your customer. The often used opening question: "Do you have ten minutes?" also tempts you to hang up. After all, this phrase is used so often that it may evoke bad memories in your customer. Why not try a different introduction? "May I get right to the point?"
Your customer will answer this question with a happy "Yes, gladly! And that is already the first positive step in the right direction! Your customer's mind is not on a no. No annoyed "Yes, you're bothering me at the moment". Open questions can work wonders - advises the sales trainer. Because your customer wants (!) you to be brief and will give you a chance to introduce yourself on the phone. Just remember that the customer needs to see added value in this phone call. And accomplishing that is actually not that hard. Think ahead: what value can you offer your customer? If you have a well thought-out answer to this question, not much can go wrong.
For example: "Hello, I am Mr. Müller from company XY and I would like to become your future logistics partner, but only if it makes sense for you". With the last statement you convey to your customer that you don't just want to sell him something. You act in his sense. Your customer will pay attention and feel that he is in control of the conversation and that you don't want to impose anything on him.
Cold calling is not an adventure where you don't know what to expect. On the contrary. Prepare yourself for your phone call and you won't be surprised. Make a list of possible objections so you can respond to them in the future. These are simple steps that will transform your selling into a positive experience. And last but not least, there are three golden rules that will make your phone calls easier.
If you follow these rules, the next cold call shouldn't scare you anymore. Sales training would also be an option for you or your employees? You are curious and want to learn more tips and tricks from renowned marketing experts? Then take a look at Greator Business Over. Our courses are designed for self-employed people and entrepreneurs, who want to successful would like to become. With the help of instructive presentations and seminars, top experts such as Sales trainer Tim Taxis their knowledge and help you to optimize not only your sales strategies and sales processes. You will receive success strategies in the areas of positioning, online marketing, sales, rhetoric and Motivation by top experts from various industries.
Information about Tim Taxis
Tim Taxis is the expert for sustainable business customer acquisition and lecturer at ESB Business School Reutlingen. He will gladly reveal his tips and secrets for effective B2B sales. "From person to person at eye level" is an important core topic here and quite honestly: it doesn't sound that cold, does it?!
Can I just cut to the chase? - Tim Taxis
