Conquering the Sales Callback Challenge

Getting Prospects to Respond to Your Sales Calls 

Overview

The major challenge most sales professionals face: how to get the call-back. We all know without this critical step, the rest of the sale will never occur. This article provides an inside track on solving this problem-some dilemma. Join us for another terrific sales training resource.

Introduction

When trying to set up an initial meeting with a prospect, you should both call and email the person. Combining these two approaches will make your message a more memorable as well as easy to respond to for both email and voicemail people. The key to this approach is to use the same wording for both messages and send them at the same time. Both the voicemail and the email should include your name, phone number, company name, reason you are calling, and your phone number (again).

“Reason for Contact” Statements  

Your “reason for contact” statement should be the shortest possible description of your lead source.  For example, if you received a referral from Roger Smith, your reason statement should be something like “regarding Roger” or “regarding Roger Smith.” If you acquired the lead from a trade show, the reason statement should be “regarding the trade show;” if you met at a networking event, the reason would be “regarding last week’s conversation.”

Keeping It Simple and the Same

According to studies where sellers carefully tracked their ratios, shortening the message to a single word or a short phrase seems to work the best. For example, if you are selling your product or service to an insurance company, you would leave a message for that says “Re: Met Life.” When they call back (and they will), you can finish the thought by saying “We’ve done a lot of work with insurance companies like Met Life, and I thought we should get together to discuss.” Again, the key is to use the same wording for both messages and send them at the same time.

Getting the Call

Do not type your entire sales pitch or toss your manifesto in the emails you send to fresh prospects (avoid the “See the attached 400 page document on why we are so great”). Emails should read more like reminder notes you leave for your spouse or roommate. The business version of “please don’t forget milk today” might be something like “confirming our appointment for Tuesday.” You might even leave out their name and all niceties (such as “greetings”). Just get to the point. In this age of ubiquitous iPhones, Droids, Blackberries, smartphones, and iPads, your message recipient will appreciate this more as they walk and read.

Commonsense tells us that those who read or listen to our complete messages are much more likely to respond to us!

Action Steps

To improve your sales success, focus on
• A Reason for Contact,
• Keeping it Simple and the Same, and
• Getting the Call.

About the Author

Steven Bookbinder

Steve Bookbinder, CEO and lead trainer for Internet Advertising Institute has over a decade of experience selling online media, search engine marketing, and advertising. He has written and co-written more than 25 books, articles and audio training programs, and is most recently the author, with Jeff Goldberg, of How to Be Your Own Coach.

To read more about the topic in this article or explore the online training courses visit http://www.InternetAdvertisingInstitute.com

Internet Advertising Institute: The World is Changing, Are You?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Bookbinder