Telemarketing Software Featured Article

 

  By Rory J. Thompson, Web Editor

 

It’s true that everyone was a beginner at some point in their career, but is there anything more awkward than getting a sales call from a “stumbler”? You know, one of those unprepared, unprofessional people that stumble and stammer over their words? It’s obvious they’re unsure and unprepared, and you can’t get them off the phone fast enough.

But put the shoe on the other foot. What if you’re the stumbler? It’s a terrible position to be in, but there are ways to to overcome it, and become a sales-closing professional.

In her latest blog post, Genie Parker, Manager Of Operations at VanillaSoft, providers of the industry's leading software for Sales by Phone (News - Alert), she examines one important aspect of sales that many overlook: The Script.

“While it’s clear that successful sales calls are the goal of all inside sales teams, believe it or not many do not have a dynamic script to handle different call scenarios,” Parker says. “Dynamic scripts branch out to effectively handle different call interactions to increase the possibility of a sale. They allow sales reps to have the right tools at their fingertips for different situations.”

So, why would anyone go into a call without a script at hand? Parker says it’s because many of them don’t know any better.

“This is because of a lack of knowledge about the effectiveness of a good sales script, or an inside sales process that doesn’t have the capability to distribute consistent messaging to the team through logical branch scripting,” Parker states. “As the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. This is crucial when selling by phone. You only have about seven to ten seconds to grab the prospect’s attention to continue the call.”

She also adds that scripts are important because without one you risk turning off prospects by sounding unprofessional. “It’s better to be prepared ahead of time to answer questions, overcome objections, and close the deal, instead of stumbling over words in search of the right thing to say, or using the wrong messaging,” she says.

Good salespeople needn’t be intimidated by relying on a script. They key is to keep the language ‘real’, without sounding like a robot. In sales, no one wants to be talked “at”, but most prospects don’t mind being talked “with.” The savvy salesperson knows the difference, and uses it to their ongoing advantage.


Edited by Stefania Viscusi