How to get prospects to smile on a sales call
People need to know you’re human, and you get what they’re going through.
We get it: Sales calls can be awkward. Your prospect might be interested in your service, but they’re also probably dreading the call, thinking it’ll go like all sales calls do. They may even know how the call traditionally goes, down to the questions you ask. The sales consulting firm Brevet says only 13% of customers feel like a salesperson understands them. This varies, but it has to do with salespeople not communicating how their product or service can effectively fix a prospect’s pain points.
So how can you pleasantly surprise a prospect on your first call? In light of the fact that 60% of buyers want to discuss pricing and 50% want to see how a product works on their first call, transparency is imperative. Besides sharing all the info, there are a few steps a salesperson can take to establish a connection with the prospect.
Research the prospect ahead of time.
Prospects want to feel more than just a name on the call sheet, even if they are. Even though this may be your 57th call of the day, they shouldn’t feel this way. When calling a prospect, research them or their company ahead of time to establish a genuine connection with them.
They might have recently been featured in some media, so that you can reference that article. By demonstrating that you took the time to learn about them in advance, you will make them feel important as potential prospects.
You have to strike a balance between being friendly and professional, but even while you’re on the phone, remember to smile and follow proper business etiquette. Your tone of voice becomes more positive when you wear a genuine smile.
Don’t be so stiff.
Almost always, sales leaders use sales scripts when training their teams. Eventually, after a good deal of practice, sales scripts become habitual. The problem with reciting the same script repeatedly is that the words lose their meaning to the salesperson, so they’re just reciting rather than communicating. The problem is made worse when prospects are used to getting on the phone with salespeople who have perfectly practised sales scripts. Avoid doing this as much as possible.
Speaking in a way, you wouldn’t normally consider favourable – like saying, “um,” or hesitating before you talk – can make your phone call seem more authentic and as if you haven’t been repeating the same script one hundred times in the past few weeks.
Here’s a tip: think of it as a conversation with a friend. Likely, you wouldn’t start your usual script if a friend expressed interest in your product or service. Instead, exchanges would be more casual, ‘human’. When you speak this way to prospects, they feel that you are conversing with them rather than lecturing.
Share stories
By incorporating stories into the sales call, you can break from the routine of a script. For example, a personal story may be told, or the story of another customer or client. Usually, stories are told differently each time, so you’ll get a chance to leave behind the mundane rehearsal and make real connections with people.
According to the cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner, we are 22 times more likely to remember facts when they are presented through stories. In addition to making facts about your company easier to remember, narratives also allow you to illustrate the company’s mission and ethos colourfully. A compelling story helps the prospect follow the customer’s journey from start to finish:
- What the problem was at the outset.
- What the product or service does to resolve it.
- Where they are today.
Prospects can imagine themselves walking the same journey. Also, depending on the type of customer or client you are working with, you should have a couple of stories prepared. Potential clients want to hear about how you have helped people just like them.
Your objective should be to pleasantly surprise the prospect by making it clear that you understand what they need and that you can meet that need with the right product or service. It takes just a few tweaks to your strategy and a few extra minutes of research to establish a human connection and express genuine interest, but it can make all the difference. Prospects who are pleasantly surprised become leads, and those leads become customers or clients.
Connect with one of our recruiters if you need more information.
