Lisa Keeps Them Listening
Everyone in the office wondered why Lisa was more successful at increasing profit than almost anyone else. She isn’t overly aggressive. In fact, she has a very pleasant telephone voice.
She doesn’t make more calls than anyone else. Yet she is able – consistently – to get better results than nearly everyone else in her office.
I am often asked to visit an office and sit with telesales reps to observe and listen to their calls and then to offer ideas and make suggestions which will improve results.
In one such office the sales manager said: “Don’t bother to listen to Lisa, she is the most successful with her calls.”
That made me curious, so after listening to the other telephone sales reps, I asked if I could observe and listen to Lisa, to find out why she was doing so well. (Lisa and her manager have given me their permission to share this with you.)
Calling Busy People
She works for a company that sells copiers, fax machines and printers. Lisa’s job is to sell imaging supplies for office equipment – on the telephone.
She has a very pleasant voice, a positive attitude and a cheerful disposition. She is also enthusiastic when she makes her calls, which comes across to her prospects. (Enthusiasm is contagious.)
Her territory includes a very busy downtown area in a major metropolitan city in the U.S. Her prospects are busy people, with very little interest in hearing from telemarketers, though they are often called.
What Lisa decided to do was to let her prospects know – at the beginning of her calls – that she wasn’t going to take up much of their time. (Smart idea.)
Example
Some of Lisa’s customers are buying only H.P. brand (OEM) toner cartridges. Little by little, she has convinced many of her customers to switch to compatible – lower priced – cartridges.
When she calls to let customers know about a sale on compatible Hewlett-Packard laser jet toner cartridges, Lisa starts some of her calls this way:
“Good afternoon, Mr. Smith, it’s Lisa Monroe calling you from [her company's name]. I wanted to quickly let you know that you can now get a compatible cartridge for your H.P. printer at a 40% savings. These cartridges are backed by our 100% guarantee and customers are getting great results from them. Would you like to try one of these cartridges today?”
(Did you catch that one simple word?)
That one word “Quickly” lets her customers know that Lisa is not going to take up much time. This puts prospects in a receptive frame of mind.
A Word of Caution
NOTE: If you decide to use Lisa’s wording, (“. . . a quick call . . .” or “I wanted to quickly tell you . . . “) be sure that your call does not take up much of the prospect’s time.
You probably have a success story – or two – to share. I would love to hear from you! Please post your comments below.
About The Author
Ann Barr is a telesales marketing success coach with a passion for teaching. She loves helping people who are starting out in new telesales careers and working with experienced sales reps who are looking for new ideas and tips. In addition to presenting monthly e-classes, she writes and edits direct-mail marketing letters and emails for clients. Sign up today for Ann’s free Weekly Sales Tips and get marketing tips and ideas to increase your sales!
4 Responses to “Lisa Keeps Them Listening”
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