Selling advertising by telephone. Telephone marketing (telephone sales). Basic secrets of telephone sales

In telephone sales, managers hear the word “no” much more often than in personal meetings. It often happens that salespeople lose the initiative in a conversation when they come across a more “seasoned” client who talks incessantly and leads telephone conversations to a dead end. It is very important not to lose heart in such situations.

Beginners are very susceptible to experiences of rejection and failure. To cheer themselves up, some sellers spend time in the smoking room or near the coffee machines.

But, in fact, such “doping” only aggravates the situation. The plan for telephone conversations is disrupted, the nervous system becomes overtired, “burnout” and loss occur.

To prevent this from happening, establish regulations for conducting telephone sales and conduct a short workshop with beginners. Develop conversation scenarios with the client.

You shouldn’t pause after each call and think about the result. Calls should be continuous, even if the previous client rudely expressed his indignation at contacting you.

Also determine the rules of work and rest during the day. A good practice is for salespeople to continuously call for 50 minutes straight and rest for every last 10 minutes of the hour.

Then the seller gets excited, has a working spirit, and simply doesn’t have time to think about failures.

Follow the business process

Telephone sales is a specific business process. There must be a unified sales technology. Greeting the client, handling objections, possible and unacceptable phrases, order of product presentation. All this must comply with the same regulations.

Develop development sheets for conducting . Break them down into stages and describe the algorithm for talking with a client from the first to the fifth call.

Such sheets are very important in situations where telephone conversations are conducted with regular customers. Managers often resort to frivolous communication and forget about corporate standards. And such a deviation from the business process can be fraught with the consequences of failure.

Talk only to the decision maker

A typical mistake of most managers, often newbies, is to sell to everyone who is willing to listen. Especially when before this a telephone conversation with the client could not begin for several days.

Sellers are ready to praise the product, forgetting to clarify whether this listener is authorized to make a purchasing decision.

There is no point in selling to those who do not influence. You only need to contact (DM).

It is important to understand that the decision maker is not necessarily the general or commercial director of the enterprise. This could be the head of a department or the head of a direction.

Therefore, before you launch telephone sales into active status, find out who you need to contact to discuss the terms of the deal. Next, determine the methods you use to contact the decision maker directly.

Fix agreements

Having received permission from the client to send him a commercial offer, the newcomer falls into euphoria and forgets to record the agreements reached during telephone sales.

As a result, the manager not only loses the details of the negotiations in his memory, showing the client his incompetence. The seller may even forget to contact this buyer after sending the letter. Thus, losing the client forever.

Be careful with theory

What works well in theory is not always part of successful practice. Especially if we are talking about foreign books on sales published in the middle of the last century.

Some salespeople use such books as a bible in telesales. And they sincerely do not understand why such well-known theories do not work.

For example, unfortunately, you can still run into a manager who starts a telephone conversation with a question like this:

“Do you want to get a new model of our product for only 1000 rubles?”

Or he uses too many situational questions that completely discourage the client from interested in the conversation.

If you have such experts on your team, then it’s better to send them to good training so that they can improve their skills in real conditions of telephone conversations.

Find out the reason for refusal

Another of the most common mistakes in telephone sales is hanging up immediately after a refusal without identifying the reason.

But it’s far from a fact that the client is really not interested in your offer. A potential client, who is forced to answer several sales calls a day, simply says “no” to any offer automatically.

Many managers lack simple persistence (not to be confused with obsession). Ask your client some probing questions to find out his values and needs. This will help you close the deal faster, or you will learn a new objection that you need to think about handling.

Avoid closed questions

It would seem that all sellers know about the technique of open questions, especially in telephone sales. However, it is still not uncommon to encounter such an error.

What are closed questions?

1.Are you interested in such and such equipment?

2. Do you buy machines with such and such functionality?

3.Would you like to receive our commercial offer?

Those. These are questions that can be answered with one word “yes” or “no”. Of course, the answer “no” is pronounced much more often, and already automatically.

Start the dialogue with open questions to which the interlocutor must give a detailed answer.

Collect a database of good and bad scripts

A fairly common mistake of business managers is not to record or listen to managers’ telephone conversations.

Why is it important?

The best managers

Even diligent and diligent employees are not immune from mistakes in telephone sales. Monitoring call recordings will help them see what they are doing wrong and correct the situation.

Worst managers

Having control will make relaxed employees take their work seriously. And if negligence is repeated, you will be able to say goodbye to the unscrupulous employee in time.

In addition, such recordings are excellent material for training your employees. You play a recording of the best phone conversation and the worst. Thus, using a specific example, you show what telephone conversation scripts should be and what they should not be.

How to introduce yourself

It takes the counterparty a few seconds to form an opinion about the seller, even if it is wrong. Therefore, the first phrases of greeting and introduction in a telephone call must be verified.

Even in a phone call, try to make your “hello” sound sincere. Sometimes you can switch to other forms: “good afternoon”, “good evening”, etc. By the way, all phrases that begin with the attribute “good…” are not so hackneyed, although they are less easy to pronounce.

The performance follows. An absolutely necessary element of telephone sales. In a friendly, calm but energetic manner, tell them your name and what company you are from. It’s better to use a phrase like: “My name is... I’m from the company...”.

And now the most important thing is that all these phrases during a phone call must be spoken in the context of certain states of the employee. Their definitions came from training and telephone sales practice in America and Europe.

1. Confident (confident)

It seems obvious. Confidence can be inherent in a person's essence. And if it is not there, this does not mean that it is not suitable for telephone sales. Confidence can be developed. Firstly, it comes with experience, and secondly, you need to very clearly understand what benefits the proposed product will bring to the buyer.

2. Enthusiastic as hell (damn energetic)

The level of energy sent by the seller during a phone call should be very high. It stems from confidence, and subsequently occurs due to the normal physical condition and acceptable mental balance of the employee. The employer, by the way, can influence both the first and the second.

3. Sharp as a tack (literally – as sharp as a pushpin)

Phone calls are the most dynamic type of interaction with the buyer. Therefore, the salesperson must be very smart to quickly respond to the changing tone of the client in the first seconds of the call. An employee is smart if he interprets the client’s words and his hidden motives in a timely and correct manner. The good news is that a manager's mind can sharpen with experience, if desired.

So, the greeting and introduction for telesales must be pre-written, verified, tested and rehearsed a thousand times. An employee’s first words are half the battle in successful telephone sales. Let them sound simple and cheerful.

The client is a pain, we listen and hum

In fact, we are talking about a certain technique for dealing with client objections during telephone sales. Paradoxically, it does not require the seller to be verbose. This is a clear algorithm that is based on the technique of active listening.

1. Listen

So, the basis of the algorithm is listening to the client’s objections. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. After 4-5 objections to an inexperienced salesperson, the buyer may become “bored”, which will lead to a decrease in the level of enthusiasm.

Still, don't play psychic when making a sales call. Listen to the end as the client objects and what he says. Only in this case is a smart employee able to understand where the buyer’s “button” is.

The practice of telephone sales also knows many cases when a purchase was made simply at the stage of actively listening to the troubles and pains that pour from the other end of the line.

2. Understand

The process of “understanding” does not at all imply that you and the buyer agree on everything. It is extremely important to learn and use the phrase: “I understand you.” These words have the magical power to win over a person for several reasons:

This phrase is heard quite rarely in a client’s life,
Few people actually strive to understand your customer.
In our everyday communication, understanding and agreement are not the most common things.

Therefore, your “I understand” is almost 100% likely to flow like a balm. However, in order not to run into the answer “yes, you understand,” immediately smoothly move on to the next stage.

3. Join a client

At the “joining” stage in telephone sales, a connection is built with the client, which will allow you to gain confidence. It is necessary to explain to the buyer what exactly the seller “understands”. As a result, you gain credibility and a chance to make a sale.

Gently reason and ask questions

1. Counterargument. From this stage, in fact, verbal work with an objection begins using logical methods.

2. Find out if there are any questions left . After answering objections, you should ask: “Do you have any more questions?” If the buyer continues to object, move to “I understand” and move through the algorithm.

You can “walk” the presented algorithm several times. Minimum three. On the other hand, in telephone sales, there is no need to go for a record of 20 times.

How to work with a secret client

It is important to remember that people very often do not say what they mean. Therefore, in telephone sales it is important to correctly interpret arguments that are “clueless” from the seller’s point of view. They are also called hidden.

Here are a few typical objections:

"I will think"
"Expensive"
“I’ll call you back myself”

Clients do not always openly express their doubts and may “hide” the real reasons for refusal under these phrases. The task is to identify them and help the buyer make the right decision for himself.

If you are asked for time to think, start “thinking” and reasoning immediately with the client, speaking in the language of his benefit, since in fact in telesales you are told:

"not now",
"I will think",
"put it aside"
"I need some advice"
"give me a reprieve"
"I will consult"
"Let's do it next week."

When a person says “expensive” in a telephone conversation, it can mean:

"give a discount",
"make it cheaper"
“Competitors are cheaper.”

When in a telephone conversation you hear the words “I’ll call you back myself,” this is most likely the result of some mistake in the early stages of a cold call. The manager simply could not gain the client's trust.

After all, he knows exactly what he wants and what he doesn’t want. And it’s unlikely that he’ll be able to sell anything he doesn’t need. Therefore, the emphasis in this telephone sales technique is on logic and description of the qualitative characteristics of the product. You shouldn’t lie in this case, since the interlocutor, due to his experience, can easily catch the seller in a lie.

Cool/Assertive- wants to have the best that is on the market and prefers to cooperate only with popular companies. In addition, he may be rude and prone to moralizing.

The main thing here is not to get confused and continue to conduct telephone sales using technology. In the language of benefits, you will have to prove that the product offered is unique and in demand among others. This way the interlocutor will be convinced that he himself may need the product.

Uncertain/hesitant- during a telephone sale, you can notice that the interlocutor doubts not only the need to buy the product being offered, but also its quality.

In this case, the specialist is required to prove to the client the importance of cooperation without pressure. During the dialogue, win him over and show him that his opinion is important. This is where the technique of active listening is especially important.

We looked at the typical mistakes of managers in telephone sales. Analyze the situation in your department and eliminate them.

Instructions

Greetings.
When greeting your interlocutor, if possible, address him by name, and also be sure to introduce yourself. You should give a name and briefly describe yourself.
For example: “Good morning, Sergey Petrovich! My name is Alexander, I am the manager of the Ilanda company. Wholesale sales of kitchen appliances.”

Showing concern for the client.
Be sure to take care of his comfort by asking if he has a couple of minutes of free time.
For example: “Could you give me two minutes of your time.”
If the client is too busy, ask what time is best to call back so that it is convenient for him.

"Casting a fishing rod."
Win the client over by making it a small company.
For example: “In business circles, yours has established itself as a reliable partner. We would like to offer you cooperation on favorable terms.”
This way you can keep the client interested in the conversation.

Use the top acquisition model. In addition to the initial call and clarifying contacts, the teleoperator conducts initial negotiations, initiates the sale, scrupulously identifying the further intentions of the potential customer. In fact, it is already collecting the parameters of the first trial client, and also collecting information on the possible scope of future work with a new consumer.

Format the cold database in advance. For example, select contacts of companies not only with the required specialization, but also with a given parameter, for example, “company employees”. Large holding and network companies can be immediately transferred to the corporate department (so-called “long-term” sales).

Master techniques for identifying the “needs” of a potential customer. Managers often make the mistake of immediately moving to the “presentation” stage, wasting their time and causing negativity with unprofessionalism.

It is important to have a client CRM system in the sales department. CRM - literally “Customer Relationship System”, which records all incoming information about the consumer, and also reflects the “Plan of Further Actions”. But you can record all the information in a regular Excel file so as not to waste time.

At the time of “cold” attraction, record all “input” information about the potential client: format; specialization; development plans. In the future, this will save time on working with less promising consumers.

Video on the topic

In recent years, the hotline has become a widespread form of informing the population about goods and services. It is actively used by large manufacturing companies, retail chains, and representatives of medium-sized businesses. Such events are often organized by government agencies and federal and regional authorities to explain to citizens any topical issue. The essence of the “hotline” does not depend on the status of its initiator and boils down to the following: a person asks a question over the phone and immediately receives a competent answer.

You will need

- premises;
- separate telephone number or telephone numbers;
- staff.

Instructions

Determine the duration and operating hours of your organization's hotline. It can be permanent, periodic or one-time, around the clock or with a fixed time for receiving calls. The duration directly depends on the goals you want to achieve. For example, an Internet provider is interested in providing its customers with constant 24/7 telephone support. At a university, it is advisable to set up a “hotline” during the period of entrance exams and only during the daytime.

Choose the method of receiving calls: on your own or through employees of specialized call centers. In the latter case, you will save yourself from many technical problems. However, our own hotline reduces the time it takes to eliminate operational deficiencies. Customer calls are received by your employees, who are well aware of production nuances and can quickly contact the necessary specialists to clarify controversial issues. In addition, starting with any option, over time you will be able to change the hotline mechanism to a more convenient one.

If you decide to use only internal resources, take care to allocate separate telephone numbers for the hotline for the entire period of its validity. Visit several landline and cellular operators in your area. Find out the following points: the cost of one minute of conversation, the presence of a subscription fee, the ability to connect a multi-channel number, the availability of easy-to-remember numbers, the size of the discount for long-term cooperation, the conditions for early termination of the contract, the zone of reliable signal reception for mobile operators, etc. Sign an agreement with the most suitable company.

Designate a separate room for hotline employees. You need to equip the room with comfortable office furniture and computer equipment. Provide operators with Internet access and a separate email address. This will increase the efficiency of interaction between operators and other company specialists. If possible, organize electronic recording of incoming calls. If you do not have a special computer program, you can keep records using any spreadsheet editor, for example, Excel.

Train hotline staff. Select competent, proactive specialists with good reactions and an analytical mind. Consider friendliness and stress resistance as an additional advantage. Your employees will have to communicate with different people and quickly resolve complex, perhaps even conflict, situations. Think over everyone’s work schedule, clearly define the start and end times of work, and a lunch break. Be sure to include several additional 10-15 minute breaks during which employees can leave the office and, as they say, “catch their breath.”

Develop recommendations for conducting telephone conversations. The operator must be the first to greet the calling client, clearly pronounce the name of the organization and his first or last name. Then ask, for example, “How can I help you?” and listen carefully to the person without interrupting him or asking clarifying questions. Also think over a common wording for ending the conversation.

Provide each operator with a list of telephone numbers and other contacts of the organization’s employees and a list of issues that are within their competence. Try to predict the most pressing topics that hotline workers may encounter, analyze them in advance and prepare several possible answers.

Analyze the work of the hotline a week after its opening. By this time, you will have accumulated enough material to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the event.

Sources:

Organization of a hotline

Active sales over the phone – this won’t surprise anyone today. The secretary of each organization is familiar with calls from different companies offering various necessary or not so necessary goods or services.

Calls and sales

Conventionally, all attempts to sell something over the phone are divided into two categories: “cold” and “hot” calls. “Hot” calls are calling clients from your own database. These are people and organizations with whom you have already worked, that is, contact has been established, and you simply offer them new services and products or notify them of your promotions.

Cold calling is an attempt to find new clients. These are initial telephone calls to those people and organizations who have never worked with you; during the conversation you can introduce yourself and make your commercial offer.

Why are such calls called cold calls? No one knows this for sure, but we can assume that the point is how the potential client reacts to the manager’s call: usually the reaction is quite cold. Old clients treat calls more kindly, because if they have already used your services and were satisfied, then they are probably not averse to continuing cooperation.

Why are cold calls treated so coldly?

Firstly, if an organization operates in a large city and has existed for several years, then a lot of such calls are received per day. Even if you offer something worthwhile, imagine what it's like for a person to listen to different proposals several times a day!

Secondly, it’s not very often that managers who make “cold” calls actually offer something worthwhile. Often companies have certain needs, but they usually try to solve them as quickly as possible. What is the probability that a manager will make a “cold” call at the exact moment when the client has a need for his service or product? Of course, far from 100%.

Thirdly, it takes time for the manager to make his sales proposal. And if there are many such calls a day, then imagine how much it takes to listen to someone’s proposal and then politely refuse.

Effective cold calling

If you want your cold calling to be truly effective, it pays to have some strategy.

To make a competent call, do some preliminary preparation. By finding out the size and specifics of the prospective client's business, you will understand a lot about whether he needs your product. And the awareness you demonstrate in a short phone conversation will break the ice that will be present before the person even picks up the phone.

Don’t set yourself the goal of calling as many clients as possible in a working day. It is better to choose fewer companies, but those that are actually your potential clients. This will give a much greater effect.

Databases of customers who previously purchased the offered product or were interested in its properties, features, characteristics. These buyers or customers are not only familiar with the selling company, but are often interested in purchasing a product or service, so the manager’s task is greatly simplified compared to cold calls, when negotiations have to be conducted with complete strangers. The effectiveness of hot calls also significantly exceeds the effectiveness of cold calling, however, it should be remembered that this technique is more often used in current activities; it is almost impossible to use for business development.

Rules for making hot phone calls

Hot phone calls are usually made by sales department specialists in accordance with a certain internal company algorithm. This algorithm is not rigid, but it is important to negotiate in a logical sequence. The basic rule is to constantly remind the client about the advantages of the product being sold and the benefits of cooperation with a specific seller. The manager’s task during a hot call is not only to complete the next transaction, but also to retain a regular buyer or customer, leaving him with a positive impression of the purchased goods and services. If this task is not completed, then the likelihood of the client moving to competing organizations, which can find and attract him as a result of professional cold calling or other methods, rapidly increases.

Who should handle the negotiations?

Many companies strive to reduce their own personnel costs, so they use regular operators for hot phone calls. Practice shows that such savings lead to the loss of some regular customers, since a professional sales manager constantly stirs up the buyer’s interest in the purchased product and performs several tasks simultaneously. An ordinary operator will not be able to achieve such goals due to the lack of appropriate skills, as well as ignorance of the specifics of interaction with clients. His maximum task may be to conclude another deal, which does not mean effective client retention.

Sources:

Hot calls

There is no faster way to start trading than to organize a telephone sales department. That is why this type of sales has become widespread throughout the world. Most often, telephone sales are used in setting up meetings with decision makers and in sales of financial services: insurance, lending, investments.

Types of Telesales

Telephone sales can be divided into several types based on who initiated the contact and the client’s degree of readiness to purchase.

Inbound Telesales

Inbound telephone sales are a type of sales where the customer calls the salesperson himself, thereby showing interest in the product being sold. Inbound sales are considered relatively simple. Despite this, the seller is required to have good knowledge of the product, etc. the caller often calls several companies in search of the best offer for himself. That is why a specialist who receives incoming calls needs to know competitors very well and be able to offer a product.

Outbound telephone sales

Outbound telesales is a type of telephone sales where a salesperson calls a customer and tries to interest the customer in a product. Work in outbound telephone sales has a fairly low conversion rate; often, in order to make one sale, you need to make a hundred calls. Of primary importance in outbound sales is the call base. A base is a resource; from a good base, even the least competent employee can produce results. management in telephone sales solves two problems: and. These tasks are ongoing because... any base runs out quickly. The base can be hot and cold, so calls are often called cold or hot and warm.

What are cold calls

Cold calls (cold work) are calls to a client who has not previously shown any interest in the product. in essence they are being conducted blindly. When making a call, you are trying to interest the person in your product. In most cases, you immediately receive a refusal to communicate, but some part will be interested in your offer.

Where does the cold client base come from?

For b2b sales, the main source of the database is the 2GIS directory, as well as various company directory sites. In general, legal entities do not hide their phones by displaying them, so there are no problems with a cold base. Things are much more difficult with federal laws significantly limiting the dissemination of personal data of residents of our country. At the moment, only data collected independently can be legally used for sales. In this case, the person must consent to the processing of their data. For these purposes, there are special sites that collect a database by luring phones from the population, then this database is resold. In addition, landline telephone data for most cities in the country is publicly available. In general, it is not easy to find an up-to-date database for sales to individuals.

Specifics of cold telephone sales

In cold calling, and is crucial. If a seller knows how to interest people, then he can get very good results. In this case, the typical establishment of contact: “Good afternoon, company XXXX, offers a product on sale...” will not work. A more sophisticated speech module is needed; the client should not immediately understand that they will now offer him something. Therefore, it is important to come up with the so-called. For example: “Good afternoon, we are conducting a survey on the quality of….. services” or “Good afternoon, you have exercised your right to free…..”. The goal is to break through the barrier of reluctance to talk to a stranger on the phone, and then make a lucrative offer.

Every manager should be proficient in telephone sales technology, since about 70% of transactions begin with a telephone conversation. Moreover, almost every trading enterprise tries to maintain contact with regular customers, periodically notifying them about discounts and expanding the range, and they also widely practice directly searching for new customers by phone.

The technology of sales via telephone can be divided into two conventional types - when a client calls a manager and when a manager calls a client. In the first case, the manager’s task is to retain the client and make him permanent, in the second - to find a new buyer, contact contact persons, collect basic information, etc. Accordingly, it is best to develop two regulations, specifying in them the main points of telephone conversations and analyze with employees tactics of behavior in a given situation.

Client manager
So, first, let's look at the basic technique of telephone conversations in the case when a client calls a company.

Greetings

Before starting a conversation, you need to let a few rings ring, then pick up the phone, say hello, say the name of the company and your name. Ideally, speak with a smile and keep the timbre in the most pleasant range, which for men is in the lower register, and for women in the middle register.

The tone when answering a call should be as friendly as possible; it must be remembered that at this moment the manager represents the entire company on his own behalf and is responsible for its image and reputation. If you need to switch a client to another employee, you should not allow delays of more than 20-30 seconds - it is better to ask to call back.

Talk

At the very first exchange of phrases, it is necessary to show interest in the client’s questions - listen carefully and clarify details. Here it is important to stick to the golden mean - without delaying the conversation, to get to the heart of the issue, to give an adequate answer and the necessary information. After the client has received information, he is offered a product or service, and this must be presented as if it ideally suits his requirements.

In a conversation, you need to carefully monitor the client’s emotional state, you can use psychological methods of persuasion and even some neuro-linguistic programming, and you can borrow many techniques from “live” sales techniques.

If some information is not available at the time of the call, you should take contact information from the caller, promising to call back by the specified date. At the same time, a realistic deadline must be specified, since a company that does not fulfill its promises immediately falls greatly in the eyes of the client.

End of conversation

According to the rules of etiquette, the person who started it ends the conversation. You can bring the client to the end of the conversation by indicating the outcome of the conversation. After this, you need to say goodbye kindly, wishing, for example, a good day.

Manager - client
But in the case when a manager calls a client without having previously contacted him, it is necessary to use maximum cunning.

The purpose of any telephone sale is to reach a competent person from the manager or head of the supply department. Therefore, before the call, you need to collect as much information as possible about the structure of the client company and its needs. This can be done through a series of clarifying calls made by colleagues (it’s just important to do this more than once), by reading information on the Internet, or by getting to know one of the client’s employees on social networks.

Starting a conversation

For example, a manager is interested in selling spare parts for a client’s fleet. By collecting information, he finds out that the potential client uses Volvo cars, and the director's name is Ivan Ivanovich. The beginning of the conversation may look like: “Good afternoon, can I talk to Ivan Ivanovich? This is from the Autolux company regarding problems with the Volvo transmission in your fleet.” In this case, the manager has a much greater chance of being connected to Ivan Ivanovich than if he simply asks: “This is from the Autolux company, do you need spare parts?”

Continuing the conversation

Ideally, it’s good to make the conversation a little informal. For example, after reading on forums about the problems of Volvo cars produced in the 2000s, you can start a conversation about them. It is important to use open questions to which the client will give a detailed and complete answer. Getting the client to talk is the most important thing; let him talk as much as possible about his problems and needs.

The next step is to offer your services as delicately as possible, ideally solving his problems and needs, but at the same time avoiding imposition. You need to imagine that the interlocutor is the same person, in many ways tired of the official form of communication and endless monotonous commercial offers, and base your conversation on this.

Ending a conversation

There is no need to take up a lot of the client's time. The most important thing is to establish contact. Therefore, ending the conversation should be based on positivity and hope for future cooperation or communication. And don’t despair if you refuse – you rarely manage to sell anything the first time. In any case, even the fact that the client learned about the company is very good, and the manager received another point of experience in conducting telephone negotiations.

Telephone selling is not an easy thing to master, requiring experience and knowledge of trading psychology. But even experienced managers understand that in this case, sales statistics will be most truthfully revealed by Pareto’s law - out of 100 clients, only 20 will make contact and of these 20, only 16 will turn out to be real buyers. However, good command of telephone communication techniques will enhance the company's reputation, strengthen its employees and make them more experienced.

Also, an in-depth analysis of telephone conversations can help market research in some way. And, of course, profitability will increase in any case, if the product is in demand, then the client will even be glad that he was able to make a profitable purchase through a phone call, and the seller himself contacted him, saving him from wasting time on unnecessary searches.

Before you learn how to do things on the phone, you need to learn how to do it. There are two extremes that interfere with conducting a full-fledged dialogue - feeling like the coolest person in the world and feeling like the last sucker.

In the first case, your voice will radiate impudent self-confidence. You will constantly be carried away in the direction of “yapping” and “swearing.” You will not have a conversation, but fight for recognition of your indescribable coolness. You will react aggressively to any remark or proposal that goes against your ideas, defending yourself and defending your “china shop.” Of course, you won’t arrange any affairs this way. Maximum - you'll give yourself a stomach ulcer and give a couple of people a heart attack.

In the second case, your voice will always be pleading. Persuading to do you a favor. Radiating weakness and uncertainty. More often than not, you will “get punched in the face” as a result of negotiating in this tone. The way the world works is that most living beings react to a manifestation of weakness in another with the desire to “step on his tail” in various forms.

How to find the right shape?

How to find the right form, how to choose the right timbre of voice, how to build the right dialogue? - it's a matter of your skill. A skill acquired through much practice and repetition. A martial arts fighter hones his skills by countless repetitions of strikes, throws, and blocks. Your task is to hone your technique by participating in as many situations as possible. The more phone calls you make, the more experience you will gain in telephone conversations. Moreover, over time - suddenly, one day - you will find YOUR recipe, your negotiation technology. It may be different from the technologies previously known to you, and that will be right!

The fact is that there are no golden templates in this world with which you can achieve success in any enterprise. We are all very different. Each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses. We are all influenced by the external environment in different ways. What is acceptable for a tall, brown-eyed brunette when meeting girls may be completely unacceptable for a short goblin. What I’m saying is that ideally you should strive not to repeat other people’s methods, but to create your own. Naturally, having gone through the stage of “repeating other people’s methods.” But having gone through it only in order to gain the experience necessary to create your own, individual technology.

So, in order to learn to speak correctly, you need to find the right balance between “I am the navel of the Earth!” and “I am the last nonentity!” Concentrate in the middle. If this result is achieved at least partially, you can begin learning telephone conversations.

Fear.

Imagine two situations. You're talking on the phone with your best friend - joking, laughing, not worrying about what to say. The conversation flows by itself. You are flowing.

And imagine a different situation. You make a phone call to sell panty elastic. How?! You feel the difference. Obviously in the second case you will be more constrained and constrained. Shackled and pinched by attachment to the result of “selling elastic bands for panties” - that’s it! Shackled and squeezed by the thought that selling elastic bands for panties is a dumb and ignoble occupation - that's two! Shackled and pinched by fear of a person unknown to you on the other end of the line - that's three! And that is not all. Only point number three carries with it a bunch of different side effects that you could write a whole book about. But this is not our task. Our task is to see the reason that prevents you from talking on the phone, selling elastic bands for panties, as easily and naturally as when talking with your best friend. And this reason is fear! Fear of screwing up, fear of looking stupid, fear of being scolded and other types of fear.

Naturally, training in telephone conversations alone will not get rid of the whole heap of fears that you constantly carry with you. You need to take care of yourself not partially, but as a whole. This, again, is a different conversation. But the fact that telephone conversations contribute to solving the problem of your self-improvement is indisputable.

My method.

So, we figured out that you are afraid. How can you overcome fear? Well, yes, there are, of course, a thousand and one methods of mental self-regulation, there are hundreds of effective spiritual practices, and so on. But that's not what we need right now. We urgently need to solve a specific problem. Get rid of the fear of making phone calls. How?! I found my method. I'll tell you about it, and you look for yours.

My method is simple. By numerous repetitions of the same task, understanding all its stages and analyzing errors, you can bring its implementation to relative perfection. In other words, the more phone calls I make, the more effective my phone technology will be. And the only question is where to start.

And I recommend starting by focusing on the most important thing. On the person to whom your call is addressed. Even if you don’t know him - in the case of telephone sales, everything is so - it doesn’t matter. The main thing is to imagine it. What can he do now? What mood are you in at this moment? If it’s lunchtime, then perhaps he already has one foot in the cafe across the street from his office. If it’s the end of the working day, he is already mentally at home. If it’s early morning, still in bed. Understand that the person you are calling is the same person as you. He has a lot of his own problems and your call can bring concrete confusion to the measured course of his thoughts. Get into it and treat the object of your telephone message with sincere understanding.

Be specific and clearly formulate!

For information. Every day, 30-40 people call the office of an average Moscow company that has given its phone number to the media, wanting to sell something. Now put yourself in the shoes of that secretary who needs to get only the necessary ones out of these 30-40 calls to the final addressee. Did you imagine?! What happened? Right. The result is a standard model. Let only those who speak in a pleasant, velvety voice and clearly state the purpose of their call. Well, if he still jokes subtly and smiles, then it’s just a plague! He definitely needs to be connected to the boss - he is our client.

So, before you call with any proposal, you first need to specify it and clearly formulate it. Moreover, it is not enough to simply write it on paper and memorize it. You need to make sure that it is only the basic model of the constructor with which you can generate hundreds of other models. Preliminary trainings with friends or acquaintances help very well with this. Everything is very simple. You make an agreement with a friend over the phone to practice telesales. Let him enter into the image of the person you are calling, and you into the image of yourself. Then everything is the other way around. So go ahead and train. Practice different patterns depending on different situations and warm up your language.

Awareness.

By the way. Your awareness is very important. Before selling anything over the phone, read all materials about the product. Find out all its technical and operational characteristics. Be prepared to answer any tricky question. Memorize all the technical formulations so that they bounce off your teeth like the Lord's Prayer. The more conversations you have on a given topic while training, the clearer your wording will be in real communication with a client. The more beautiful and softer you can present your product.

First telephone conversation.

Now to the specifics. Let's look at the example of selling electronic business cards (EVCs) over the phone. I would like to immediately draw your attention to the fact that the maximum you can agree on during the first telephone conversation is a meeting. A real meeting in the office of a potential customer in order to demonstrate to him the EVCs and their capabilities. Remember that what seems obvious and understandable to you - well, you know your product well - may be completely unobvious and unclear to a potential client. He doesn’t see all the benefits of the product you offer the way you do. He has no information about him. Your task is to convey this information to him in a language he understands in an extremely concise, concentrated form and obtain consent to the meeting. So, the purpose of the first call is to arrange a meeting.

Contact with a source of "danger".

Before you start making phone calls, study all the materials on EVC. Ask all the questions that arise during the reading to more experienced comrades. Briefly formulate your model for starting a conversation. For example. You dial the number and say: “Hello! Is this the Star company?” The answer is “yes!” you continue: “Connect me to the head of the marketing department and please tell me his name.” It is important to understand here that talking on the merits of the issue with the secretary or any other random person who answers the phone is pointless and to some extent dangerous. It is dangerous because the first reaction of an unprepared consciousness when faced with something new is non-acceptance. And, as a result, the desire by any means to quickly break contact with the source of “danger” - unknown information that infringes on the sense of self-worth. Have you often met people who, when faced with the unknown, ask the question: “What is this? Tell me!” That's just it, that much more often they say: “We are not interested in this!” and hang up the phone or turn their back.

The first "filter".

So, you voiced your request. Most often the answer to it is the phrase: “What did you want?” or "On what issue?" This is the first "filter" that most callers usually don't get through. If you are straightforward and say, “I want to offer you electronic business cards,” you can practice your patience through repeated polite refusals: “Thanks! We don’t need them.” If you are more flexible and quick-witted, you can practice passing this “first filter.” There are hundreds of models for its passage. Let's consider one of them.

To the question “On what issue?” you can answer: “On the issue of working with VIP clients.” First of all, you're not lying. EVCs are really used when working with VIPs. Secondly, the presence in your sentence of the magic phrase “working with VIP clients” can put a secretary trained to “bump off” telephone salesmen into a light trance. The absence of “red rags” like “I want to make an offer” in your speech can lead to the secretary immediately redirecting your call to the addressee. True, at first he may try to provoke you with the question: “Do you want to sell (offer) something to us?” If your voice does not waver at this moment and you calmly answer: “Yes, I have a proposal that I would like to discuss with the head of the marketing department,” the likelihood that you will be connected with him is quite high. If you begin to find it difficult to explain the essence of your proposal to the secretary, then, most likely, he will send you “by fax”: “Send your proposal by fax.” Of course, in this case you will need to send a fax and call back later. But it must be remembered that 99% of faxes sent without specifying a clear addressee are immediately thrown into the trash bin. Therefore, before sending a fax with a proposal, you must find out the name and position of the person who will make a decision on your issue. Information about this person will be useful to you when you call again.

The moment of truth.

It often happens that the secretary asks the question: “What exactly do you want to talk about with the head of the marketing department?” It is important to understand here that this question can be asked for two reasons. Due to the absence of a marketing department in the company and, accordingly, its head, or due to the extreme corrosiveness of the secretary. With such a development of events, in no case should you stoop to the level of the image of a “telephone salesman” that is formed in the minds of most secretaries and rant about the essence of the issue in front of a person about whom you still know nothing.

Therefore, the answer to his question: “What exactly do you want to talk about with the head of the marketing department?” maybe the following phrase: “My name is Vasya Partiszanoff, Khomyak-Trading company. May I know your name and position?” Here comes the moment of truth. Either you hear in response: “I am Katya, secretary” or “My name is Ivan Mikhailovich, I am deputy general director.” Naturally, the models for further continuation of the conversation in these two cases will be different. In the first case, you need to correctly turn the conversation into the direction of “please connect me with the decision maker.” In the second case, get straight to the point.

Keep your attention.

Let's consider the second case in detail. If you are lucky and you have found the person you need, don’t relax. The cherished goal is still far away. The main thing is to determine from the very first words who is in front of you - what kind of person is talking to you on the phone. This can be easily determined by the manner of communication. If you hear notes of laziness and arrogance in a person’s voice, that’s one thing. If on the contrary, fear and uncertainty are completely different. Over time, you will be able to distinguish such things from literally two or three words spoken by a person. In the meantime, focus on your inner voice and don’t allow the thought that the person on the other end of the line is stupider than you.

So, you contacted Ivan Mikhailovich, deputy general director of the company you need. What's next? Next, you need to hold Ivan Mikhailovich’s attention for at least 5 minutes. This is not an easy task, I’ll tell you right away. The fact is that, as a rule, Ivan Mikhailovich is not much different from Katya the secretary in terms of “interest” in the product you offer. Ivan Mikhailovich has a lot of his own problems, often not even related to his work. His task is to quickly find out what you want from him and return to his normal state. Therefore, it is important here not to make a mistake and hit the target exactly.

From the very first words, you need to indicate the purpose of your telephone visit: “Ivan Mikhailovich! I have a specific proposal that I am ready to present within two minutes. Is it convenient for you to talk now?” Most often the answer is “Yes! Tell me.” If the answer is “No, I don’t have time now!”, then you should clarify what time is best to call back and write down this information in red ink in your diary. At the same time, you need to remember that some Ivan Mikhailovichs use the “Call back tomorrow” form as a soft refusal until you give up. I want you to be ready for this too.

So you have at least two minutes. But do you know how these “two minutes” can be extended to 10-20 minutes of real time? Everything is correct. The information you convey should capture the attention of Ivan Mikhailovich. Did you see how Ostap Bender told the residents of New Vasyuki about the creation of the Intergalactic Chess Club? So, you should talk about electronic business cards in much the same way.

You can start by politely asking if Ivan Mikhailovich is familiar with your product: “Ivan Mikhailovich! First, I would like to clarify whether your company uses electronic business cards in its work?” If Ivan Mikhailovich is not familiar with EVC, he will probably ask: “What is it?” This is the question you need. Slowly, with feeling, you need to talk about your favorite product. For example: “An electronic business card is, at the same time, a business card made in the corporate style of your company and a mini CD on which presentation information is recorded in electronic form: texts, photographs, videos, audio. You can place information on an electronic business card ", corresponding to the volume, for example, 15,000 pages of typewritten text or 300 full-screen photographs. Information from an electronic business card can be read on any computer."

If Ivan Mikhailovich has heard about EVCs, but does not use them in his work, you need to get straight to the point: “Specifically for your company, electronic business cards can be useful as - (several options for using EVCs). Ivan Mikhailovich! I’m ready to come to to your office and, within 10-15 minutes, demonstrate the capabilities of electronic business cards, and also leave you a sample."

I have now roughly sketched out the phrases that you might say in a conversation with Ivan Mikhailovich. In a conversation with, say, Zinaida Petrovna from a modeling agency, these wordings will be different. In other words, reach the level of improvisation over time. Don't load your speech with templates. Templates are boring and indecent. A person always feels and gets irritated when people talk to him in a stereotyped way, and on the contrary, he reacts and responds well to live, impromptu speech. Therefore, learn to be alive and real even when talking on the phone!

7 rules.

Further events can develop according to a thousand and one different scenarios, ranging from a complete lack of interest in the product you offer to the exclamation: “Oh my God! Where were you before? Come to our office urgently.” It is, of course, impossible to consider all these situations. Yes, in general, it’s not necessary. The main thing is to understand the essence. The essence of the business you are doing.

But the point is that you, Firstly, you need to win over the person you are communicating with.

Secondly, you must exude confidence. Have no doubt that the world needs your product.

Third, you should always listen to yourself through the ears of the person you are saying something to.

Fourth, you must always take into account the interests of your potential client, without forgetting your own interest.

Fifthly, you shouldn't get attached to the result. Do you understand correctly what it means to “not get attached to the result”? - that's another question.

At sixth, you should always keep a good mood and smile. Remember! - that it's all just a game. It is not necessary to always be a winner in it. Full participation is enough.

AND seventh, do not forget! - 80% of the success in the development of your future relationships depends on HOW you talk to a person when you first meet them. The first impression is the most lasting.

In addition, do not overload the client with unnecessary information. Sometimes long-term negotiations can be extremely harmful. The more information you give about your product, the more doubts will arise about it. Learn to answer questions briefly and to the point. But eloquently! Remember also that if you are asked a question, you always have the opportunity to give it the answer you need. I'm not about to lie. I'm talking about being flexible. In order for interest to be shown, it is enough to tell about WHAT you offer and WHY it is needed. Information about HOW it works is often overloaded. Save it for inquisitive clients.

That's all. This is definitely a drop in the bucket. Just basic truths. But even if you master them perfectly, future success is guaranteed to you. Good luck, future telephone master!

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