How many times have you hung up on a sales call and realized you completely blew the chance to close the deal? You said the wrong things. You weren’t listening to the buyer. You simply lost what you knew was a sure sale. Why did this happen? How often does it happen? Telephone sales skills don’t come naturally. To be really good on the phone, it requires training and focus. Read More >>

Do you ever have 30, 40 or 80 sales calls to make and just start dialing? Perhaps you had a busy week and you let them build up. Now you just want to power through them? If the answer is “guilty,” your success rate will be minimal and you’ll waste your time. Good telephone sales skills start with the right attitude. (Notice we didn’t say “sales time management”). Too many salespeople make calls because they “have to” not because they want to. How can you avoid this? Read More >>

I read a post from a sales blogger recently who argued vehemently that a salesperson should never ask a prospect if “they have a minute.” In other words, when you’re cold calling a prospect you should use sales techniques such as humor, a “get-their-attention” opener, as well as a few other basic telephone sales skills. There was nothing wrong with any of the sales tips except that rudeness rarely sells… Read More >>

I was on a sales call the other day and within two minutes of describing the benefits of my company’s services, the client turned me down flat. I was tempted to cut my losses and move on, but a very important thing happened – my prospect kept talking. There are lots of telephone sales tips – what to say, how to say it, tone of voice…etc. However, sometimes just listening and letting the prospect talk can have positive results… Read More >>

Good telephone sales skills are a real art form. They require the ability to use only your voice and ears (versus using voice, ears, body language, visual ques, charts, graphs…etc). Because we’re so visual, and because the telephone is a critical sales instrument, we need to ensure we’re getting our message across as well as hearing our client’s concerns. One particular sales technique that will take your telephone sales skills to new heights is smiling while you speak on the phone. Read More >>

A critical aspect of good telephone sales skills is to know how to use voice mail. Use it wrong and you will lose more sales than you can shake a stick at. Here’s a brief  overview of the when, how, and why of voice mail. Read More >>

Have you ever heard a true professional on the telephone closing a sale. It’s like poetry. There’s no anxiety – just a smooth flow as he steers the sales process. How do we obtain such sales skills? We can listen to the pros and do what they do! The following comes from a sales veteran controlling the call from start to finish. You’ll only hear the sales side, but that’s all you’ll need to get the gist. (Names, places, products changed for privacy) Read More >>