Do you find yourself constantly logging into your social media account to see if anything new popped up? Do you think the internet is what keeps us sane, even when we’re not on it? Well have I got news for ya. The world has changed and gone digital! Nope- there’s no more browsing through magazines at a store or flipping channels until something interesting comes along; in this day and age searching online will do just fine.
Long live the internet: with a few clicks you can find the offer of any company. The speed with which search engines like Google, Bing, Ecosia or Baidu shows us this information is now taken for granted. And we expect the same speed from companies. If we ask a question through the contact form on a company website, we want an answer as quickly as possible or you’ll lose your lead to the competition faster than you think. A quick sales call is the best way to follow up on your lead.
The good old sales call
Reacting quickly is therefore the message. And the best way to do that is an old-fashioned sales call. When you call people up, you can do it more personally than via e-mail or chat. You can go more deeply into the question or application they contacted your company for and you can immediately anticipate other needs they may have. These sales calls usually lead to an appointment. But the goal can vary from booking demos to gathering information or sending out emails.
MyImmowi is an automated system through which the online leads of our customers immediately reach the real estate agent. So, one of the agents can call a real estate lead within 5 minutes. From experience we know that you can convert 80% to 90% of the requests into an appointment, when reaching out to your lead within 2 to max 3 hours. If you wait longer or even a day, you already lower your chances to 50 or 60%.
So, you can increase your conversion from the same number of leads, just by contacting them in time. Not only that, but you build a good relationship with your potential customer right from the start. People react very positively when they get a quick sales call. It leaves a good impression, which gives you an edge anyway, and it makes it easier to build a lasting relationship with that customer.
Why can’t we make an appointment with a certain lead, for example? It could simply be because the lead gave the wrong phone number, or the lead had different expectations about pricing. MyImmowi offers a dashboard with an overview of the leads, classifies them and has different features to qualify and modify each leads, but also let’s you give feedback about the quality. This information is very valuable to us, because it allows us to adjust our marketing strategy for your specific project in order to keep increasing the quality of your leads.
Wondering how to best approach a sales call? Here are a few tips.
Tip 1: A catchy opening phrase
One of the most difficult things in a sales conversation, especially through the telephone, is the opening sentence. The first impression is decisive for the rest of the conversation, so it is best for the opening sentence to be catchy. Literally catchy, you have to grab the other person by his or her hairs. And what is the secret of a good opening sentence in a sales meeting? It puts the customer first, rather than the salesperson.
People are more interested in something that is about them than about the organisation calling. It sounds logical, almost like an open door, but check for yourself how many times up to now you have started talking about your company, your product or yourself first. And not immediately about the customer/prospect.
Tip 2: The YES-mode
As a salesperson, you should first ask the customer some simple or very trivial questions to which you can quickly and easily say ‘yes’. You are Mrs Petersen? You live in Brussels? Do you ever use a credit card? Even for purchases on the Internet? Are you interested in an offer that gives you an immediate advantage? The aim is nothing less than to put the customer in a positive mood, in a ‘yes’ mode. Then he or she is more likely to say yes to your offer.
Tip 3: Be human
As a telephone salesperson, you must conduct a normal sales conversation with your customer or prospect. You have to listen carefully to what the other person says, react to it, ask questions, gauge reactions and talk lively. Exactly as you would do in a normal conversation. You will then be more likely to win over your customers. And this is especially true if you also radiate enthusiasm.
On the other hand, customers or prospects are not impressed by prescribed scripts or anything that even remotely resembles this. Then the other person at the other end of the line doesn’t feel special, but just number 28 who is called that day.
Tip 4: Smile
People who smile when they talk on the phone come across as friendlier. This is due to the positive chemical reactions that the smile causes in your brain. In this way, you give your conversation partner the sincere impression that you are pleased to hear him. And people who talk on the phone while standing up appear more self-confident than those who are sitting down. People who are seated talk more softly and come across more composed.
The livelier your voice, the more people like it. Even talking on the phone with your hands helps. Scientific research has shown that the voice becomes livelier if you use your hands while talking. Certain words are then automatically accentuated. Some sales people swear by even walking around while calling. This increases the volume of the voice and the movement of the body also provides the necessary liveliness.
Tip 5: Context
When someone calls your company with a complaint, your first priority is to ask the how and why question. How did the problem arise? And why is the customer calling? The most important thing is the context of the question. Only when you know the question behind the question can you offer the right solution. That’s why in many companies you don’t get a menu, but a real person of flesh and blood on the line.
A front-office employee can immediately find out the context of the question, something that a fixed menu can never do. And because the customer then has to be put through to another person, there is still a loss of time and, moreover, the customer is less satisfied.
