Guest post Monday brings us Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, who offers invaluable insights on getting past your barriers when making calls. (Be sure to read to the end to see the offer we have that you won’t want to miss).
Do you suffer from call reluctance?
No matter how experienced you are – or even how successful you are — picking up the phone to prospect, call leads back, and even call on existing clients can still be difficult.
If you find that your phone has seemed like a 200 lb weight lately – you know, hard to pick up — then follow the 3 suggestions below to get into action again.
(#1) Believe it or not, call reluctance often starts the night before; usually Sunday night is the worst. Dread can begin building and by the time Monday comes, it’s almost impossible to avoid dumping VMs, answering emails, or organizing leads — anything to avoid making those calls…
The Solution: Set a specific goal for the # of calls you’re going to make each day and then make that your #1 priority for your day.
Once you make those calls, you’re free to do all the other things that are important and the pressure will be off you.
Start with a small goal, one you know you can accomplish and then work up from there. Success will build on itself and it will get easier and easier to make calls.
(#2) Develop a script you’re comfortable with and then use it on each and every call. Nothing is more demoralizing or frustrating than trying to ad-lib your way through brush offs, objections and negativity you get day after day.
Being prepared with and using a script will give you confidence and help you build rapport quicker.
The Solution: If you want free scripts, then visit my blog. If you want even more word for word scripts, invest in my “Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts.”
(#3) Change your expectations. Most sales reps start with the wrong mindset. Because they believe in their products and services, they think that everyone should and would also believe — if they would only let them pitch them.
The Solution: Reset your expectations. Start by reminding yourself that regardless of how good your product is, you can only sell someone who is interested at that time and willing to listen to you. In other words, you’re only looking for buyers.
Once you adopt that attitude, it will be easy to make calls because when someone says no, you’ll be able to thank them for not wasting your time. You’ll now be able to move on to the next call and next possible buyer.
Bottom line — once you set an achievable call goal, write an effective script, and begin calling looking only for the buyers, calling will get much easier.
FREE WEBINAR — Good news! Mike Brooks and I will be hosting a free webinar on how to Overcome the Price Objection. We are offering it on three dates THIS WEEK, so head on over to the link to reserve your spot.
And if you haven’t already signed up for The Sales Hunter weekly tip, it is an easy way to get the skills you need to increase your success! Sign up today!
Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, is the Best Selling author of “The Real Secrets of the Top 20%” and “The Ultimate Book of Phone Scripts.” Voted one of the most Influential Inside Sales Professionals two years in a row by The American Association of Inside Sales Professionals, he is recognized as a leader in the industry. Mike also works as an executive coach with business owners and sales managers, and does complete phone script development.
