More Things to Consider Before You Pick Up the Phone

How the script is delivered (acted out) is just as important as what is said in the script. Your voice and mannerisms need to be just as personable as your words. What can you do to improve your calls outside of the script? Here are a few things to consider.

Ideally, the goal of your script should be to have a conversation. Not a long conversation, but a conversation nonetheless. In the past 20 years we have written hundreds of scripts and delivered them millions of times. Regardless of the script’s subject the most successful scripts are always conversational.

Maximize productivity during your calling time. When you are working efficiently you should be making approximately 30 phone calls per hour. Remember, an average prospecting call should only be a few minutes long, unless the customer initiates a longer conversation.

Here’s another hint. We recommend that you only let the phone ring four times instead of the standard six. That sounds like a strange rule doesn’t it? The reason we make this recommendation is that in most telephone systems, four rings takes a total of 24 seconds. Six takes 36 seconds. The difference between 24 and 36 seconds is just 12 seconds, right? What’s the big deal with 12 seconds? A lot!

On a 30 call per hour project (and most of our projects run 30 to 35 calls per hour) that wastes 12 seconds per call (12 seconds times 30 calls per hour equals 360 seconds). The numbers add up quickly. If you take 360 seconds divided by 60 (the number of seconds in a minute), it equals six minutes. Six minutes is equal to 10% of an hour. How would you like to lose 10% of your productivity, right off the top, because you allowed the phone, if not answered, 12 extra seconds on a call?

Adjusting the amount of times you let the phone ring is one of the most basic things you can do to make your prospecting time more efficient. It can’t get simpler than that.

Remember to utilize some type of a Marketing & Sales Database, to keep your call time and prospecting experiences organized.

Be consistent and diligent. Keep track of what you say when you leave messages for Decision Makers (DM) and call back when you say you will. Don't expect that interested or not, they will return your call.

Have you scheduled prospecting into your day just as you would block out time for a sales meeting? If you do not make time for new prospects you can not expect them to seek you out.

Another thing to consider is the “voice” of the one making the prospecting call. Do all you can to make this voice friendly, polite, and specific to the geographic area you are approaching. I realize you can’t change your voice dramatically, but you can improve diction and vocal mannerisms.

Attitude also makes a big difference- do you expect the DM to take and enjoy your call, or do you see yourself as an inconvenience and interruption to their day? If that is how you feel about your phone call, how can you expect the other person to feel any differently?

What you take into the experience often determines what you can take away from it as well. Sometimes the old adage “Smile before you dial” is overused, but that doesn’t make it less true. When you are happy and excited, the listening ear on the other end of the line can detect that. Don’t be false, but determine your own motives for making a prospecting call, remember the overall goal of getting to know the prospect and enjoy the conversation.

Remember prospecting is not sales: when you talk to a prospect you are looking to see if they have a need you can fill, not telling them what you think they need and how much it will cost them. Get to know them, ask for information about their needs and concerns before you ask for more of their time or money. Most people have their own opinions and feelings so it should not be surprising that they are willing them, even with people they don’t know.

Maintain a policy of honesty and respect. Do not fabricate connections with a prospect or information about your product or service. When you don’t know an answer, admit it, but promise to find out and get back to them.

Be personable. Make a connection to the prospect as a person rather than a number off your list of people to contact. Just as you would want to be treated with high regard, they want that too. Offer, and expect, respect and common courtesy.

Are you taking advantage of opportunities to gather "I know a guy" referrals? Even if a prospect is not a good fit for your company, they may know someone who would be. This concept applies to current clients and those you are seeking to make productive relationships with.

Lastly, be sure you know what the "no" you hear means- there is a big difference between, "No, never" and "No, not right now." Remember the "X" factor. There is an appropriate time for every purchase and if you have an established relationship with the prospect you have more of a chance at being there when their time to purchase arrives.

Understanding Your Sales Pipeline

Do you remember that old television commercial—the one that said, “And then she’ll tell three people, and they’ll all tell three people,” on and on? Wouldn’t it be nice if actual sales really worked like that? The fact is the commercial never says all those people who got told would actually turn around and buy the product.

That’s the problem really: there’s a vast amount of difference between the hundreds of people who need to find out about your business before a few of those people will actually buy. Think about the number of people you had to tell about your business just to get it up and running. Now that you’re established, your focus has changed to both maintaining and increasing the sales levels you currently enjoy. Although your company was probably originally built up by your prospecting efforts, as a businesses matures the level of prospecting seems to fall by wayside. In today’s changing economy, you need to find the most efficient ways to keep qualified prospects entering your pipeline, nurture those already in process, and provide your salespeople with the candidates who are most willing to buy at the end of the pipeline.

A sales pipeline is a funneling process for sifting through every potential customer in order to find those who will actually buy. As you do this you will typically hear four responses:

“Not interested.”

“I’ll buy – but I’m waiting for budget approval.”

“As soon as the new warehouse is done, I’ll order.”

“I’m ready to buy right now.”

Of course, what we all want to hear is “I’m ready to buy right now.” This is where the first money is made for your business and your salespeople. But, with the funneling perspective of a sales pipeline you will understand that even when your pipeline is filled with highly qualified prospects only 25% of those potential deals will actually follow through to close. What happens to the other 75%? That’s the big question your sales pipeline needs to address.

The important thing to remember about sales pipelines is the “X” percentage factor I talked about in an earlier blog. Even if they didn’t buy from you this year, they might be in line for next year, or the next.

You want to fill your pipeline with the most qualified prospects available so that the highest majority of sales possible can come out the other side. But, you also don’t want to forget about the people still stuck at the beginning and middle of your pipeline. If you nurture those relationships, outside of the pressure of closing, then the majority of them will transition from point to point in your pipeline rather than going somewhere else when their “X” percentage factor for buying comes into effect.

Today’s compensation packages encourage salespeople to put most of their efforts into the end of the sales pipeline. It takes a little retraining to help everyone understand how best to nurture those “not yet” relationships.

Ekstrom & Associates specializes in helping you understand how to fill your pipeline with the most highly qualified prospects and creating nurturing relationship with the prospects already in your sales pipeline. When a prospect is ready to make his purchase, he is released to the salespeople. Until then, the prospect is nurtured without closing pressure.

“X” Percentage: The Foundation Element of Prospecting

There are many ingredients that go into producing a successful prospecting system. Perhaps the most fundamental is an element that The Prospecting People at Ekstrom & Associates have dubbed, “X” Percentage. Understanding this one concept can give you the motivation to do the few simple things to increase sales revenues and drive greater profits to your bottom line. When you understand the “X” Percentage you can begin to realize the full potential of your business.

“X” Percentage is a simple and basic thought process:

Whatever product or service you represent some percentage of your prospects, or “X” Percentage, will buy this year. It doesn’t matter what you sell, it doesn’t matter the times or the economy, the fact is there will always be some percentage (“X Percentage”) of prospects ready to buy, or in the market place at any given time. It might be insurance, software, houses, cars, envelopes, furniture, tractors, whatever. “X” Percentage of the prospects within your sales territory will buy this year. It is a wonderful concept, one that will make you rich if you truly understand and use it. As the late Paul Harvey used to say, “Here is the rest of the story!”

“X” Percentage will also buy next year and the year after, and the year after that. “X” Percentage is perpetual and self-renewing. It’s just a fact. In times of expanding economies prospect buy more. In times of contracting economies prospects buy less, but on average “X” Percentage will always be ready to buy.

Armed with that knowledge you can get rich. Here’s how.

What portion of the X Percentage would you like to sell? Grab a piece of paper and write down answers to the following questions.

1. Whatever product or service you represent, how many units were sold last year? You don’t have to 100% accurate for this to be a valuable exercise. You can refine your answer to whatever degree of accuracy you want later. For now, just go ahead and jot down your answer and label it number 1.

2. Of the amount you wrote down and labeled number 1, how many unites did you or your organization sell? Write down that number and label it number 2. By performing a little simple arithmetic can calculate your market share.

3. Subtract number 2 from number 1. The resulting number represents the number of units your competition sold. Write that number down and label it number 3.

Now, what was your closing ratio? If you got in front of 100 prospects and sold 25, you have a 25% closing ratio. Write the amount of your closing ratio down and label that as number 4.

4. Divide the number of units your organization sold (number 2) by your closing ratio (number 3). The resulting number represents the number of prospects you got in front of last year. Write that number down and label it number 5.

5 Subtract number 5 from number 1. The result represents the number of deals you did not get in front of last year. Write that number down and label it number 6.

6 Multiple number 6, the number of deals you did not get in front of last year by number 4. The result represents the number of additional unites you would have sold had you gotten in front of the prospects you didn’t get in front of.

Prospecting is the key to getting in front of the prospects you didn’t get in front of last year.

More sales are lost because of failure to prospect than through the failure of any other step in the sales process. By failing to optimize prospecting … businesses and the salespeople that work for them deny themselves the sales opportunities … sales revenues and profits that would have otherwise resulted. We unconditionally guarantee that a failure to optimize prospecting needs never be an obstacle to you in growing your business and increasing market share again.

“X” Percentage, and what you can do with it, can begin to answer a lot of prioritizing and prospecting questions for you. Decide what your final number is worth to your organization and set your sites accordingly.