Telephone sales skills: overview

Well, not really.

Sure, we all know how to use a phone, but there's a lot more to telephone marketing than just punching some numbers onto the dial. not the issue. The reality is that telephone etiquette and methods in the business world--- particularly in sales ---are quite different from what you may be used to in your normal, everyday, non-business calls.

Business telephone etiquette generally means Get down to business, fast. Not rudely fast, just to the point with minimal idle chit-chat.

In the business world, people are usually busy and don't have time to waste. Good telephone selling skills often mean the difference between being your tuned out at the start versus getting the appointment.

Phone time spent getting appointments is time very well-spent: even a single confirmed appointment is a lot better than wasting a day driving in circles and sitting in reception areas trying to find someone who's in the office with time to hear you out.

In the pages that flow from this segment, we look at ways of improving your telephone skills when you make the initial phone contact, either with the prospect herself, or with the "screen" who takes calls.

Just to be clear, this section IS about using the phone to set up appointments, but is NOT about selling over the phone. Selling over the phone—telephone marketing or telemarketing— requires a very different approach, which we will not be getting into here.

Key point: unless your product or service is one that can be sold over the phone, then DO NOT try to sell over the phone. The less you can say in order to get the appointment, the better. Save your sales points for when you are face-to-face with the prospect.

From OVERVIEW go to TELEPHONE ETIQUETTE WHEN TALKING WITH THE SCREEN or GATEKEEPER

SEVEN WAYS OF PASSING THE SCREEN'S "GATE"

BEING ALERT TO THE SCREEN'S BUYING SIGNALS

HOW TO COPE WITH VOICE MAIL OR ANSWERING MACHINES

Telephone sales skills training: CHECKLIST FOR "DEBRIEFING" AND LEARNING FROM YOUR PHONE CALLS