Making the Introductory Call – the Art of Asking Engaging Questions & Presenting Your Competitive Advantage.
So you’re not a big fan of picking up the phone and selling your wares to a promising prospect – well, who is? My guest Amanda Puppo, CEO of MarketReach is! And she had some alternative tips to share with my Marketing Chat listeners. Instead of the typical call: “Hi, i’m from X, and here’s my great and wonderful product, blah, blah – now, are you ready to buy from me?”
This new approach flips that model on its head and gives you some ways to engage your caller longer, let’s you find out more about them, get them interested and involved in the conversation – which allows you more time to prove and find out more about their concerns – and be more open to having your business be the solution.
1. Question-Based Selling. This is where you ask questions that probe and allow you to gather more information about the prospect’s pains, needs – and also helps you confirm that they are a decision maker.
2. Don’t be Intrusive. It’s important to ask questions, but don’t ask intrusive questions that are none of your business, as you haven’t yet earned their trust and will put them on the defense (such as, “What’s your budget?”).
3. Open Ended Calls. This is the opposite of asking yes/no questions. The advantage? It gets the caller engaged in the conversation, instead of trying to get off the call, they’re participating, giving you a chance to connect with them. Use a phrase such as “Tell me about….”
4. Go for the Yes. While it’s good to ask probing questions, it’s also a valuable tool to ask questions that you know they will say ‘yes’ to. Why? Once they start saying yes to you, it’s more likely that they will continue to say yes. See how it works? Yes! (see?)
5. Your Competitive Advantage. This is when you explain why you are better than the competitor. And by the time you get to this part of the call, you should know a bit more about this person’s ‘pain’ than when you started, so you can tailor your advantages to meet their needs.
Remember, we are all fighting against change – no one in a company wants to look bad if they choose the wrong new supplier, so you are working against the status quo.
Go slow, build rapport, show that you know your business, and earn their trust.
Source: www.MarketReach.biz
