On the phone

Despite being on the preferential phone list, some sales calls do occasionally manage to get through. And there is one thing that both annoys and amazes me. That is the fact that the sales person launches straight into their spiel, without asking me if it is a good time for me to talk.

I am quite often in the middle of putting orders together for my online shop, or working on html documents for a web site, and it takes a few moments for me to rearrange my brain, in order to be able to listen to another person. Good manners cost nothing and yet reap great rewards, not least of all harmonious relationships.

I am appalled that the callers are part of a 'training system' that does not teach them the basic rudiments of a sales call, which is that we must treat the customers' time as precious. To be honest, during my five years in internal sales and fifteen years in the field, no one actually taught me this. I was trained to sell, not to be polite and respectful of the customers time.

I listened and observed and worked out what was important to people, and I waited patiently until they were ready to move to the next step. In all my years as sales, there was only one company that allowed me total autonomy. All the other companies said that I spent too much time with my accounts, and didn't do enough calls. Number crunching! That isn't the way to success. Building relationships is what does it.

The company that allowed me free rein had six accounts when I started, and within six months I had seventy buoyant accounts, in a difficult market which was architectural hardware.

In all of the companies I worked for, I gained accounts that no other sales people had managed to secure in the past. Why? I don't think I was superb 'salesman' but I simply worked on understanding people. I once asked one of my top customers why he chose to give me his business, and he told me it was because I was different. He said I didn't act like a sales representative, and I treated him like a human being. He gave me a massive amount of business, and point blank refused to deal with any other sales person when I left the company.

At the end of the day, customers are human beings. Just like you they have bad days and good days. They have personal problems, money worries, fears of losing their jobs or their businesses. How much do you really think they want to listen to you banging on about the next super product that is going to change their lives? Not much.

But listen to them, ask them questions, respect and honour who they are and the loyalty you receive will be second to none.

So next time you go to make that call, just think about this and approach your prospective customer as someone that really wants the equivilant of a phone hug, rather than a phone bashing!

Take care

Jan
Tel: 0800 634 3320
http://www.thepeoplewhisperers.co.uk/