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 25CALL CUSTOMERS WHO JUST RECEIVED PRODUCTS OR SERVICES

Can you remember the last time you bought something and the salesperson followed up to ask you if you were pleased with what you bought?

Car salespeople used to do this, but I have not received a post-purchase call from a car dealer in probably a decade.

What about other purchases, personal or work-related? Have you heard from the salespeople?

Nobody really does this any more.

Which is why we should.

ABOUT THIS GROUP OF CUSTOMERS

These are customers who recently received a product or service from you.

They can be big, medium, or small customers.

They placed an order, you sent it or did the work, and now you're calling them to follow up.

WHY CALL THEM?

To check on your customer.
To communicate that you care about them and want to make sure they're good.
To make sure your products arrived on time and accurately.
To separate yourself from the competition, because they are not doing this.
To be dependable: to show your customer that you not only do what you say you will do (which is, somewhat surprisingly, very rare in business) but also call them to make sure everything went well.
To proactively fix any problems with this order that may have come up.
To make sure your customer doesn't have other issues with other products and services beyond the order you are calling to check on.
This is a customer service call, ultimately.
And, most importantly, to see about what else your customer needs.