Whenever a customer or prospect turns down your offer - always remember to ask why. This will display self-confidence and will tell you many important things.

Understanding what motivates customers to make certain choices is really important. They’ll respect you for the fact that you’re not taking the easy option and turning on your heel. 

You must then start the process of building the relationship for the next time - the next order. There are 3 audio CDs available on the sales process. Simply follow this link to find out more http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=16

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The Associated Learning Systems site is about promoting ways of learning that can be done remotely, privately and with limited funds. I think books fall into this category perfectly. For just a few pounds you can tap into some fantastic bits of wisdom written by some very entertaining people.

One of the best books I’ve read over the last couple of years that has an impact on selling is a book called Influence : Science and Practice written by an American psychologist Robert Cialdini. He supports all the theories he puts down on the page with some well documented experiments.

If you’re involved in selling I strongly recommend it. You can go straight to it on Amazon by following this link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Influence-Practice-Robert-B-Cialdini/dp/0321011473/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227621443&sr=1-5. It gives an insight into how people behave and how you can persuade them of things. How much use could that be ?! For instance he shows that if you ask for a commitment from someone, when you’ve already given them something previously - no strings attached, they will more readily agree. They are naturally seeking to redress the balance, they feel they owe you one. This is known as the law of reciprocity.

Similarly if you advise a customer not to go for the most expensive option (thereby proving your credentials as an honest broker) they are much more likely to take your advice in the future - no questions asked.

Think how these 2 devices could help you in your selling !  �

Your vocal tone on the phone gives away far more about you than you will ever realise. Of course it is all the other person has to go on. They will build up a mental picture of you by your voice and of course what you say. This extends to all manner of other things. They’ll get an idea about how tall you are, the colour of your hair, what your body shape is like, how old you are, even how attractive you are ! All from your voice !

There will be a newly issued audio CD early next year about the use of Expression, Energy and Emphasis. This has proved challenging to develop as most of the work To Market does on customer service and telesales training on this topic has to be carried out in a very interactive way. It also makes it stick ! Follow the link to http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=TELEPHONE%20COMMUNICATION%20SKILLS

Most of you who have been through this section of the course will remember the grey person, the red person plus of course pink & fluffy and the brown man ! So make sure that you are totally focused when you’re on the phone to your customers and prospects on what is going on in your head. If you’re having a bad day, or you are preoccupied with things outside of work, chances are this emotional leakage will be picked up by the stranger at the end of the line.

As you know if you make outbound calls as a part of your job role, the people you contact are likely to be receiving many calls each day, all trying to interest them in a range of products or services.

So, your opening has to be well structured, and well delivered. I believe that your opening should consist of 3 things. You start with your name, the name of your company and the reason for the call. This will all take around 8 seconds. This is a good formula as it ensures you know what you’re talking about ! And of course it lets the other person know what the call is about. You will then get more from the other person - if they understand your motive for calling.

These calls you receive occasionally that start with the line “I’m not trying to sell you anything” are the opposite of this. They’re just rubbish because you know they ARE trying to sell you something !

So be professional, honest and upfront, and then the next thing you do is ask them a question. This is a good device as it brings them into the conversation. They will appreciate this. We cover this during our training on the directing the conversation module. We have also now got an audio learning CD that covers this easy to use 2 stage technique, called “How to get to where you want in communication.” Follow the link to http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=11�

Of course management of teams should be about using a mix of intuitive observations as well as raw statistics. The intuitive bit you get from the well established principle of MBWA - management by walking about. The quantitative bit is fairly straightforward and is based around just 4 key criteria. And if you ensure you look at each of these 4 numbers daily for each of your team, and in depth monthly you will find you’ve got a handle on what you need to know. The CD http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=26 explains this in more detail : how to set it up, what to measure and the short cuts and tricks to help you stay one step ahead of the team.

The 4 key measures are ;

1.  How many outbound dials they make per hour (over a given period) 

2. How many decision-makers they speak to per hour

3. How many of these decision-makers they convert into the desired outcome (sale, appointment etc.)

4. How many sales/appointments they make per hour

Understanding these numbers will help you with target setting for your team, and it will help you understand each person’s performance profile better (because not every person achieves their results in the same way.) It will also know what to address if somebody is off target and how best to help them

For all of us who communicate with customers on the phone, we all know that we have got to make our pitch interesting. And a motto that many sales people adhere to is that the customer will always be thinking “what’s in it for me ?” Unless we can communicate in a way that addresses this key question, chances are that you’ll never really have their interest.

They’re not really interested in how many colours your product is available in, or the turbo boost function is, or that you have 100 depots around the country - unless they understand HOW THAT HELPS THEM. Furthermore benefits are generally based around just 4 things (so it’s not much to remember) and these are covered on the audio CD “Sell the sizzle, not the bacon” http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_detail.asp?ProdID=10

Think about your pitch, or sales spiel from the customer’s point of view, and you will find it makes a big difference.   �

The business environment is challenging at the moment. We all know that. Customers are harder to find and total spend in many sectors is down.

One of the current pieces of wisdom is to cut down on all your indirect marketing, advertising etc. Indirect marketing covers anything where you don’t get a dialogue with your customer. Instead switch all your activity to direct forms of contact. So this may mean bringing your field based sales team into the office to hit the phones. Or make sure your office based sales team have enough people to call, and then let them loose. By focusing on telephone activity you will get a feel for what is happening in your market, who is thinking of spending, who isn’t and an update on their current situation.

By understanding more about what is happening in your market, the easier it will be to find potential customers and to plot future trends. Now is the time to be talking to all customers, past, lapsed, competitor accounts and anyone else who may have a need for your services, either now or in the future. �

How many times do people try and sell to you either on the phone or face to face by dominating the conversation and trying to do all the talking ? It seems to me that sales people are often trained to simply benefit sell. And yes of course benefit statements ARE very useful.

But actually if you’re selling to a human (and of course you always are) it works much better to engage them in a 2 way conversation. If you get them involved, they will open up more readily and you will find out more.

So as a rule of thumb I think good selling is about 50% talking, 50% listening. Stray too far from this ratio at your peril ! Listening is an underrated part of the communication process. It is part of all the 2 day customer service training and telesales and telemarketing training that To Market carries out. There will be an audio CD available soon on the important topic of LISTENING SKILLS, follow this link to see the present range on communication skills topics http://www.associatedlearningsystems.co.uk/product_list.asp?Section=TELEPHONE%20COMMUNICATION%20SKILLS�

Another top tip gathered from one of the delegates on our recent telemarketing training course in Northampton.

JH suggested the following ; 

“One of my favourite examples was about 10 years ago, and is not about a product or service we offer that is different to any one else, it is more to do with how I tried to stand out from competitors selling the same thing.

I was quoting a very large contract for a Council authority. I, like everyone else had been walked round to assess the size and nature of the job. At the end of the walk round I asked several questions that I already knew the answer to, and a couple of questions that were slightly irrelevant to the quote (as far as I was concerned), I even inspected their present product, even though I new exactly what type it was and who supplied it. To the Council contact, no one else had done this or asked these questions and it gave an instant boost of confidence in my company that set us apart from the competition. The other big difference to being awarded this particular contract came from the written quote I submitted. The other 3 companies were fairly short “products to be supplied x, total cost £………..”  type of things.

I made my quote stand out completely by making it fill a couple of pages, giving details of the quality of the product. I then listed all the areas individually, pointing out any potential problems they may have in the future. I backed it up with references and some tips about information I’d read that I thought would help them. We were told that we were not the cheapest quote, but the council contact said it was chalk and cheese comparing our quote to that of the other 3 companies. It made him think these guys are professionals who I want to work with. All the companies were using the same method, all I did was present it in a way that made us stand out both on site and in the written follow up.”

Nice advice, just doing that bit more, taking more pride in your work can make all the difference. And remember in selling there is only one winner. You can find out more about the training that To Market offers by following this link   http://www.tomarket.co.uk/training.php There are telesales and telemarketing courses run around the country including open courses in Leicester, Northampton, Kettering, Corby, Cambridge, Birmingham, Solihull, Coventry, Warrington, Leeds, Milton Keynes and Nottingham