book

Pick Up The Phone and Sell

by Alex Goldfayn

September 2021

Intermediate to advanced

336 pages

3h 43m

English

Wiley

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DEFINITION: WHAT IS A PROACTIVE CALL?PROACTIVE CALLS FEED THE SALES MACHINEPHONE FIRST: LEAD WITH THE PHONETHREE TO FIVE CALLS A DAY
REASONS THE PHONE IS THE SINGLE MOST EFFECTIVE SELLING TOOLPHONE CALLS MAKE US SINGULARLY MEMORABLE, BUT EMAIL MAKES US FORGETTABLEWHAT ABOUT MEETINGS?
PRACTICAL REASONS WE DON'T PICK UP THE PHONEMINDSET ISSUES FOR WHY WE DON'T PICK UP THE PHONE

THE PROACTIVE CALLIN-PERSON MEETINGSVIDEO CONFERENCESTEXT MESSAGESHANDWRITTEN NOTESLINKEDIN AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIAEMAIL
CREATE YOUR TARGET 60: A RUNNING LIST OF CUSTOMERS AND PROSPECTS YOU WANT TO COMMUNICATE WITHPLAN YOUR PROACTIVE CALLS FOR THE WEEKFINALLY, LOG YOUR CALLS
SPORTS AS A PARALLELWHY IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO OUTSELL OUR MINDSETTHE MINDSETS THAT MAKE PROACTIVE CALLING EASYTHESE MINDSETS GO TOGETHEROUR MINDSET IS NEITHER FIXED NOR PERMANENT – YOU CAN DEVELOP IT
ON FEAR IN SALESFEARS ARE NOT GROUNDED IN REALITYSO, WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THIS FEAR?
REMEMBER THAT YOU'RE MOSTLY CALLING PEOPLE YOU KNOWTHE FEAR: I DON'T WANT TO BE SEEN AS A USED CAR SALESPERSON.THE FEAR: I DON'T WANT TO BOTHER THE CUSTOMER.THE FEAR: THEIR PHONE IS ALREADY RINGING OFF THE HOOK.THE FEAR: IF THEY WANT TO TALK TO ME, THEY'LL CALL ME.THE FEAR: I DO NOT ENJOY GETTING PHONE CALLS, SO PEOPLE OBVIOUSLY DO NOT LIKE TO TALK ON THE PHONE.THE FEAR: NOBODY ANSWERS THEIR PHONE ANYWAY, SO WHY BOTHER?A FINAL NOTE ON FEAR – THESE ARE OUR DISCOMFORTS
THE DEFINITION OF PERSEVERANCEOURS IS A REJECTION PROFESSIONSALES SUCCESS IS LIKE A RARE AND VALUABLE ROOKIE CARDPERSEVERANCE IS TWICE AS IMPORTANT AS TALENT OR TECHNIQUETHE NEXT EFFORT MAY BE THE ONE THAT GETS IT DONEPERSEVERANCE EVEN WHEN IT FEELS HOPELESSHAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF AND THE PROCESSTWO KINDS OF PERSEVERANCETHE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF MULTIPLE EFFORTSWHO DESERVES FOR US TO PERSEVERE?AND, AT THE TOP OF THE LIST OF THOSE WHO DESERVE FOR YOU TO APPLY PERSEVERANCE TO YOUR SELLING WORK: YOU!
JUST MAKE THE FIRST PROACTIVE CALL.
WHAT PROACTIVE CALLS CAN DO FOR YOUBUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH PROSPECTS BEFORE YOUR SALES CONVERSATION BEGINSSTART NEW SALES CONVERSATIONS WITH NEW PROSPECTSPROGRESS EXISTING OPPORTUNITIES TOWARD A QUOTE OR PROPOSALFOLLOW UP ON QUOTES AND PROPOSALS TO CLOSE THEMBEGIN DISCUSSIONS ABOUT ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS OR SERVICES FOR YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMERSNOTE: YOU KNOW THESE PEOPLE
PHONE FIRST: MAKE CALLS THE FIRST COMMUNICATION IN YOUR SELLING WORKTHE OPTIONAL PRE-CALL COMMUNICATIONSEND A POST-CALL COMMUNICATION
EAT THE FROG
THREE PROACTIVE CALLS DAILY IS ENOUGH TO DRIVE UP YOUR SALES SIGNIFICANTLYSO, HOW MANY CALLS PER DAY IS THE RIGHT NUMBER?
WHY USE A POMODORO TIMER?HOW TO USE IT
COMPONENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE VOICE MESSAGESEND AN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE AFTER LEAVING YOUR VOICEMAIL
ALTOGETHER, EACH OF THESE CALLS LASTS 5 TO 10 MINUTES – NO MOREMOST PEOPLE ARE CHALLENGED BY THE THIRD PART
IT'S OUR DISCOMFORT, NOT THE CUSTOMER'STHE CUSTOMER SHOULD TALK AT LEAST 75% OF THE TIME
CURRENT CUSTOMERSPAST CUSTOMERSCURRENT PROSPECTSPAST PROSPECTSTHESE CALLS ARE LIGHTNING FASTTHE UPCOMING CHAPTERSHOW TO PLAN WHO TO CALL
ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERSWHY CALL THEM?YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO CUSTOMERS WHO CAN BUY MORE
ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERSWHY CALL THEM?YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO CUSTOMERS WHO JUST RECEIVED PRODUCTS OR SERVICE FROM YOU
ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERSWHY CALL THEM?YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO CUSTOMERS WHO USED TO BUY SOMETHING REGULARLY BUT STOPPED
ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERSWHY CALL THEM?YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO CUSTOMERS WHO EMAIL ORDERS AND INQUIRIES
ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERSWHY CALL THEM?YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE A QUOTE OR PROPOSAL
ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERSWHY CALL THEM?YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO CUSTOMERS YOU HAVEN'T TALKED TO IN THREE MONTHS OR MORE
ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERSWHY CALL THEM?YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO CUSTOMERS WHO USED TO BUY FROM YOU BUT STOPPEDNOW, PIVOT TO THE SALE
ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERSWHY CALL THEM?YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO CUSTOMERS WHO ARE HOUSE ACCOUNTS
ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERSWHY CALL THEM?YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO PROSPECTS YOU'VE PREVIOUSLY TALKED TO
PROSPECTS DON'T KNOW YOU ONLY ONCE: AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST CALLCALLING PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW QUICKLY BUILDS THE LIST OF PEOPLE YOU KNOWYOU'RE FILLING YOUR PIPELINE AND INCREASING YOUR OPPORTUNITIESMORE PEOPLE WILL GET TO BE HELPED BY YOU
PERSONAL AREAS IN COMMONPANDEMIC AREAS IN COMMONBUSINESS AREAS IN COMMONYOU HAVE ALL THIS IN COMMON – SO PLEASE STOP THINKING ABOUT THEM AS COLD CALLS
ASK YOUR CURRENT CUSTOMERS WHO ELSE BUYS WHAT YOU SELLASK YOUR CURRENT CUSTOMERS FOR REFERRALS OUTSIDE THEIR COMPANYASK KEY CONNECTORS FOR REFERRALSMINE YOUR COMPANY'S PAST CUSTOMERSCALL PROSPECTS YOU SIMPLY KNOW ARE BUYING ELSEWHERE NOWIF YOU NEED EVEN MORE, GO TO LINKEDIN
YOUR SCRIPT: WHAT TO SAY TO PROSPECTS YOU DON'T KNOW (REMEMBER, THESE AREN'T COLD CALLS, BUT RELATIONSHIP CALLS OR HELPING CALLS)

Content preview from Pick Up The Phone and Sell

CHAPTER 6THE PHONE COMPARED TO OTHER SALES COMMUNICATIONS PATHWAYS

The phone doesn't exist in a communications vacuum, and we have many ways to communicate with customers and prospects. Naturally, some are more effective than others; and, further, some are more threatening than others.

Some of these pathways make us uncomfortable.

Some do not.

Here they are, all together, positioned visually, comparing their effectiveness against the level of fear and discomfort they create.

Let's work through them in order, from most effective to least effective. We begin with the subject of this book, the proactive phone call.

Schematic illustration of the Effectiveness and Threat Levels of Sales Communications Pathways.

THE PROACTIVE CALL

The proactive phone call is the most effective pathway of communication a salesperson has, even more effective than the holy grail of sales advancement: the in-person meeting. This is why:

You can make a lot more phone calls in an hour or two than you can have meetings. If you pre-plan very carefully, you can have two or three meetings in an hour or two. But you can make two or three phone calls in just a few minutes. In an hour or two, you can easily make 10 to 20 calls. Not that you have to, but for very similar effectiveness (and in many cases, more) than meetings, the phone requires a much lower time investment from you. This is the major advantage: using the phone, you can tell a lot more customers and prospects that you would like to help ...