Sales Telephone Skills

Course Overview:
The ability to converse effectively over the phone is paramount, at every stage of a sales professional’s career. For those looking to fine tune their telephone skills and increase call effectiveness to close more business, the sales telephone skills course has been designed to respond to the changing needs of the sales industry.

Course Objectives:

- Improve call effectiveness on the telephone by as much as 40%
- Benefit from practical sales tools for accelerated progression in effective cold and warm calling
- Get past gatekeepers and handle objections using proven techniques that get results
- Book better qualified appointments
- Close more business and meet more call objectives
- Question effectively and understand client needs
- Recognize when and how to close effectively
- Build business rapport with customers


Target Audience:

All individuals operating in a telesales environment or those who handle both inbound and outbound calls as part of their sales role, this course will support individuals looking to increase confidence levels over the phone and successfully get past gatekeepers to influence key decision makers.


Course Outline:
Introduction: But I’ve only got four minutes!

Chapter 1: Time management: Momentum control
- Inside sales is about time
- Less time leads to more paralysis
- Be proactive in a reactive world
- Two types of momentum: proactive and reactive
- Regain your momentum
- Telephone techniques for managing time
- Time management strategies

Chapter 2: Introducing: Selling in sound bites
- Introducing is your moment of truth
- The sales 2.0 opt-out crowd: Selling in a risk-averse marketplace
- Making a live phone call
- The multiple-touch call
- The dynamic due: voice mail + email
- Take e-mail control
- Introducing strategies

Chapter 3: Navigating: Avoiding the No-Po’s
- Navigating your way to a real deal
- Understanding how power works in a sales 2.0 environment
- Stay out of the no-po zone!
- Navigating no-po’s using the 2x2 org chat rule
- Sniffing out a no-po
- Why we love our no-po’s
- When you’ve been stuck with a no-po too long
- When the no-po must protect his or her turf
- Watch out for the no-po entourage
- Saying goodbye to no-po’s
- Going around your no-po to address the power buyer
- Navigating strategies

Chapter 4: Questioning: Building trust, one question at a time
- Questioning uncovers needs, qualifies needs, controls calls
- Sales 2.0 is about substance
- Quality versus quantity: What’s the difference?
- You can no longer afford to waste a call
- The four components of questioning
- Strategy and planning: The smart selling qualification criteria
- Formulating questions
- Style: It’s how you ask the question
- The order of questioning: Doing the questioning dance
- Questioning strategies

Chapter 5: Listening: Letting go of assumptions
- Listening is about truth
- Listening in sales 2.0: I can’t hear you now
- The listening model has changed
- Digging for pain
- Active listening
- Using verbal listening cues
- Listening without assumptions
- Sales intuition
- Becoming comfortable with the silent pause
- Note taking is information capture
- You are only as good as your notes
- Information integration
- Listening strategies

Chapter 6: Linking: Selling to power buyers
- Linking connects you with C-level decision makers
- Sales 2.0 has redefined power
- How to the spot the power buyers
- Linking with influential executive assistants
- Spotting power buyers throughout the sales cycle
- Access granted! Now what?
- Giving yourself access: You deserve to speak with the power buyer
- Linking strategies

Chapter 7: Presenting: It’s showtime!
- Taking presentation seriously
- It’s sales 2.0: All I’ve got is four minutes!
- Understand the process
- Choose the right presentation type
- Know who’s driving
- Be 100 percent present when presenting
- Think about your content
- Presenting strategies

Chapter 8: Handling objections: Bring them on!
- The brutal truth about objections
- Riding the objection tidal wave in sales 2.0
- How salespeople create objections
- Why customers object
- The five categories of objections
- The e-mail objection
- Handling objection strategies

Chapter 9: Closing: The complex road to gaining commitment
- Closing means mastering the sales process
- Sales 2.0: the complex close
- Master your sales skills
- Build a healthy sales funnel
- Master your sales process: They key to accurate forecasting
- Understand your customer’s buying agenda
- Work out your self-confidence muscles
- Closing strategies

Chapter 10: Partnering: Conscious collaboration
- Sales 2.0: Technology enables collaboration
- Secrets of structuring a good inside and field partnership
- Start strong
- Creating strategic alliances and partnerships
- Partnering strategies