26 Ways to Use Recorded Calls at Your Business

One of the many features that makes LogMyCalls such a powerful tool is call recording. LogMyCalls can record every customer call at your business. But, how could a business use recorded calls? Here are SOME answers: 

1. Get Answers – Your numbers aren’t improving. Your rep sare working hard, they’re on the phone constantly, but nothing’s getting better. Do you know why?
2. Increased Accountability – Tracking sheets and close rates are one thing, actually hearing how your staff sounds on the phone (and allowing them and maybe even their colleagues to hear it) is quite another. You can’t hide from or make excuses for a recorded conversation.
3. Training – Play the calls back for the employee and use those calls to get better. What did your employee do well? How can they improve?
4. Compliance – Ensure that your reps are not misstating company policy or procedure when they’re on the phone.
5. Company Focus – Determine if your employees are effectively communicating what your company is all about. What is your 'big idea?' Do your employees understand that and convey that well? The only way to know for sure is to hear them try to communicate it to an actual customer.
6. Support for Employees – If a customer has a major dispute with an employee or with the company; guess what? The conversation in question is recorded and easily accessible.
7. Teaching Tool – Use the recorded calls in group settings, team meetings and conference calls to demonstrate what to do and what not to do.
8. Feedback in Real-Time – Forget the customer survey. Hear your how your customers react to things your employees say in real-time. Listen to changes in tone and words to gauge how your customers are reacting to your products and services.
9. Unfiltered Feedback – Hear feedback straight from the horse’s mouth. You have the recording when they called to complain. What were they really upset about?
10. Trends – Using our state-of-the–art analytics tools you can data-mine into calls themselves. You can see which reps are closing more calls. You can see why they’re not closing calls. You can even see which elements of the calls are going well and which are not.
11. Competitor Mentions – With LogMyCall's customizable, searchable call tagging features you can dig into the recorded calls and easily find out if your customer is comparing you to competitors and, if so, on what grounds. Are they saying that their pricing is better? Or find out how the customer is using your competitor’s name in the phone call
12. Product Mentions – Ensure your staff is pitching the right products to the right people at the right time. Are they mentioning the special of the month or the week?
13. Understanding Objections – Why aren’t people buying from you? Using LogMyCall's in-depth analytical tools you can isolate calls when the sale didn’t close, and then figure out why it didn’t close. Perhaps there is a pattern to the objections?
14. Upsell – You can isolate calls where you were able upsell a client. Is there a pattern? Why are these calls more successful?
15. Close More Calls - Isolate calls where there was a closed sale. Are those reps doing anything different? Why did those calls close and others didn’t? You can search the data and easily, in moments, find out.
16. Operational Issues – Based on what the client and your sales rep says you can determine what operational or technical issues are recurring (and again, all this is searchable).
17. Questions on a Call – Are your sales reps asking questions on the call? Are they trying to build a relationship? Or are they just talking?
18. Marketing ROI – You can not only see which ad sources are effective (using LogMyCalls tracking numbers) but with the recordings you can hear from the customer why they are effective.
19. When Did They Call – Using basic reports in LogMyCalls you can tell when someone called, see patterns in the time of day, day of week and time of month. When is marketing most effective for you?
20. Where Did They Call From? – So someone say your ad, where did they see it? Determine if there are certain areas of your market where certain marketing tools are more effective.
21. Advertising – You record your customer service calls. This makes you different! This means you can guarantee an employee has to say ‘have a great day’ or offer a specific discount in every call. If they don’t the customer gets a free _______. Advertise that! Advertise that you will hold your employees accountable because you record the calls.
22. Saves Time – There is no need to go back through notes from a conference call or sales call again. Heck, there’s no need to take notes in conference calls or sales calls anymore, you have the call right on your computer. (And LogMyCalls appends the calls directly to a customer record in your CRM).
23. Maintain a High Level of Customer Service - Randomly audit calls. Hold your employees accountable if they aren’t treating your customers well enough.
24. Scoring – Based on industry best practices (or whatever you want to measure) you can score a call for it's effectiveness. We can score the calls for you or you can score them yourself within LogMyCalls. You can score individual elements and sections of a phone call.
25. Call Analytics - Drill down into any data you want. Find out which reps are scoring better than others. Compare reps against each other. Compare locations or departments or against each other. See who's struggling and who's doing well.
26. Hear What Your Customers Hear - What do your reps sound like to them. They're the reason you're in business right? Shouldn't you know what they are hearing?

Every NGA member can receive a FREE 1-year subscription to LogMyCalls.com!* LogMyCalls is a tool created by ContactPoint with the glass industry in mind. It allows businesses to track which marketing methods are generating phone calls and which are not. It also records calls and allows businesses to score calls on customer service and sales performance.  To sign up for your free LogMyCalls account visit logmycalls.com/nga or contact Jimmy Lea, sales@contactpoint.com, 866-811-8880.

*The account is totally FREE for 1 year, but you will be asked for a credit card number during sign up. This is in case you go over the 150 minutes allotted, you will be charged up to 6 cents a minute. You may cancel at any time. Only NGA members who are Main Locations qualify for this offer.

What’s the Deal With This FREE NGA LogMyCalls Account?

Perhaps, you are aware by now that all NGA members are receiving a FREE LogMyCalls.com account and free phone number*. You get this free account simply because you are an NGA member. LogMyCalls allows you to track the effectiveness of your marketing, determine which marketing methods generate phone calls, and then actually listen to the calls that come into your business. You can hear how you sound on the phone, hear how your employees handle calls and hear real-time customer feedback.
 
What Do You Get? 

• A FREE toll free phone number or local number with 150 recording minutes
• Vital marketing data that shows you which campaigns are generating phone calls and which are wasting your time and money.
• Free call recording to gauge customer feedback in real-time and improve your ability to sell and book appointments over the phone.
• Advanced Call Routing – This feature allows you to take business calls at home, or on a cell phone, during the evening and on weekends. Additionally, if you have multiple locations you can automatically route callers to the location nearest them. (Cool, huh.)

The most important things you should know:

1. Your new phone number sends calls directly to your business phone number. You specify during sign up where you want new number to ring to.
2. You have to market your number to utilize LogMyCalls. You won’t see any value from LogMyCalls and this free NGA program if you don’t market the phone number. There won’t be any calls within LogMyCalls.com to measure, to record or to route. You could put the phone number on your website, on your fliers, on your Facebook page, on the radio, in the yellow pages or, especially, on your Google Places account. You have to get the number out there where people will call it.
3. This is normally a $29 a month package that you are getting for free for 12 months. This is a gigantic value-add for your NGA members. We hope you will take advantage of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

As we’ve rolled out this FREE NGA LogMyCalls account to our members we’ve had a lot of questions about the account, how it works and what it means for members. Here are some of our questions and the answers.

Is it really free? Yes it is really free for 12 months. The features listed above are totally free for NGA members for 12 months.

Where do I go to Sign Up? Visit http://logmycalls.com/nga or call 866-811-8880 if you have any questions.

What Do I Need To Do? You need to market your free phone number. If no one calls your new number, it won’t do you any good. You need to market your number before you can measure you marketing and hear your recorded calls.

How can I upgrade? If you want more features like call scoring, marketing planning and ROI goals, or if you need more numbers or more minutes to truly track various marketing methods and record more calls just call LogMyCalls at 866-811-8880 or visit http://www.LogMyCalls.com.


*The account is totally FREE for 1 year, but you will be asked for a credit card number during sign up. This is in case you go over the 150 minutes allotted, you will be charged up to 6 cents a minute. You may cancel at any time. Only NGA members who are Main Locations qualify for this offer.

NGA Members Receive 1-Year FREE LogMyCalls Account

NGA is excited to announce a partnership with ContactPoint, to offer every NGA member a FREE
1-year subscription to LogMyCalls.com and a FREE local or toll free phone number. An account of this nature is normally $29 a month, but all NGA members will receive it for free for 12 months*. To sign up visit http://logmycalls.com/nga.
 
LogMyCalls is a tool that allows NGA members to track which marketing methods are generating phone calls and, conversely, which are wasting money. LogMyCalls also records the calls and then allows NGA members to listen to the calls, just by logging in.
 
What You Get With Your FREE NGA LogMyCalls Account:  

• FREE 1-year subscription to LogMyCalls.com
• FREE local or toll free phone number with 150 recording minutes
• Vital marketing data that shows you which campaigns are generating phone calls and which are wasting your time and money.
• FREE Call Recording to gauge customer feedback in real-time and improve your ability to sell and book appointments over the phone.
• FREE Advanced Call Routing – This feature allows you to take business calls at home, or on a cell phone, during the evening and on weekends. Additionally, if you have multiple locations you can automatically route callers to the location nearest them.

To sign up, you simply visit http://logmycalls.com/nga. This is a sanctioned NGA website created exclusively for you.  If you have questions just call 866-811-8880.

*The account is totally FREE for 1 year, but you will be asked for a credit card number during sign up. This is in case you go over the 150 minutes allotted, you will be charged up to 6 cents a minute. You may cancel at any time. Only NGA members who are Main Locations qualify for this offer.

What is Call Tracking?

At its most basic level, call tracking tells an organization which marketing methods and advertising campaigns are generating phone calls, and which aren’t.

Many businesses market and then hope…maybe assume, that their marketing is working. But they simply don’t know which advertising campaigns, or which forms of marketing, are generating phone calls. They don’t know if potential customers are calling because they found a listing on Google, if they’re calling because they got a flier in the mail, clicked on an Internet banner ad or because they heard an ad on the radio. They just don’t know which form of advertising generated that phone call.

Call tracking allows businesses to know that information for sure, and stop wasting money on marketing that isn’t working.

Well, let’s look at the most basic exampleof how call tracking works. You’re a medium sized business. You do occasional direct mail ads, you do radio commercials, you are listed on an online directory, you do banner ads online and you have a Google PPC campaign.

LogMyCalls assigns a unique phone number to each of those elements and then shows you which phone numbers are generating phone calls and which are not. There is no tracking ‘code’ to enter after the call is connected, or coupon to bring in to the store. You put tracking phone numbers (available on LogMyCalls.com) on various pieces of marketing and advertising and then, wait and see what’s working and what isn’t. And all NGA members can sign up for LogMyCalls for Free!

To be frank, if you’re not tracking your marketing in this way, you are almost certainly wasting money.
If you’ve ever received a call from a potential customer or a current customer—ever—you could benefit from call tracking. Some of your marketing spending is going to waste, you just don’t know it. LogMyCalls will show you exactly what is working and what isn’t. Let me be clear: you are wasting money if you don’t know where your calls are coming from.

LogMyCalls is replete with charts and graphs and lists that show you which tracking numbers (thus, which marketing campaigns) are generating phone calls. You can see full caller ID information, the time of day people are calling, peak call times, peak call days, average call length, total calls, missed calls, repeat callers and unique callers. You can even see how many calls you are generating from each zip code, area code and state.

Here are features of LogMyCalls—in addition to the standard call tracking stuff I mentioned above—that will change the way you market and save you money. It’s that simple.

1. Call Recording – LogMyCalls records every call that comes into your business. How You Could Use It – You can use call recording to gather real-time customer feedback, hold employees accountable, improve customer service, improve sales skills and performance, and gather valuable marketing data.
2. Call Tagging – In addition to recording calls, LogMyCalls allows you to tag (label) calls based on marketing lead quality. For example, if a caller is just interested in checking price or getting information but isn’t very interested in buying, you could tag the call ‘cold lead’ or ‘far away from sale.’ Tag it anything you want. Later you can group calls and sort them based on the tags. How You Could Use It – Let’s say that one tracking number associated with a direct mail coupon is generating 77% of your phone calls. That’s great! But then you start tagging your calls and you notice that only 2% of those calls are actually hot leads. The rest are garbage. This information tells you that, perhaps, this great direct mail ad that is generating 77% of your phone calls is not so hot afterall. The leads that come through the number stink!
3. Lead Scoring – LogMyCalls also allows you to score every call on specific criteria that you choose to measure lead quality. How You Could Use It - You can measure whether or not the person is ready to buy in 30 days, whether they have the money to buy now, or if they are just gathering information. LogMyCalls will show you these scores for each tracking number so you can know precisely which advertising campaigns and marketing methods are generating high quality leads and which aren’t.
4. Goals and Alerts – LogMyCalls allows you to set goals for campaign ROI and even individual call value. How You Could Use It – Set a goal to make a certain amount of money from a specific ad campaign. Or set a goal to close a certain number of calls from a certain campaign. LogMyCalls will track this for you and even alert you via email or text message when your deadline is approaching or when your goal has been met. Talk about holding your advertising accountable! You’ll never waste another penny on advertising that doesn’t work!

Find out more about the NGA and ContactPoint. To sign up for your free LogMyCalls account visit logmycalls.com/nga or contact Jimmy Lea, sales@contactpoint.com, 866-811-8880.

4 Ways to Lose the Sale

After listening to millions of minutes of sales calls, and working with hundreds of clients over the past 11 years, we’ve heard pretty much every way imaginable someone could lose a sale. There are hundreds—maybe thousands of ways—to lose a sale. Here are four:

1. Failure to Ask Questions
   
   Many sales reps simply talk too much and ask too few questions. They launch right into a sales pitch without first learning anything about what the client does or how the client does it. There are instances when talking is appropriate. Certainly there is a point in each sales interaction when you have to sell your product, explain its features and benefits and close the deal. But you shouldn’t just launch into a sales pitch without first learning what your client needs and how to meet those needs. You can’t learn either of those things without asking a bunch of questions first. Failing to ask questions on an initial sales call is one surefire way to lose a sale.
   
   One more point about asking questions: most people in sales positions understand that asking questions during the sales call is a major key to success. However, too few people are willing to ask direct questions during follow-up calls and emails. They fail to ask questions later in the sales process. Here’s an example: a prospect is talking in vague terms and rambling on about their future plans and budgets and problems. Don’t be afraid to ask direct questions about their interest level and their timetable.
   
   Ask questions throughout the entire sales process.
    
2. Failure to Be Direct
   
   Being direct is often confused with being overbearing. I’ll give you an example of what I’m talking about.
   
   The other day I was on the phone with a potential partner. I had asked some questions and determined their needs and I had given a ‘pitch’ about our new product, LogMyCalls. The potential partner started talking in broad, sweeping generalities about their industry and some of their partners in the past. He started using corporate buzzwords like ‘leverage’ and ‘scalable.’ I could sense from his response that he wasn’t terribly interested in the product, but either didn’t want to say it or didn’t know how to say it.

   So I interrupted and just asked, “So are you interested in a potential partnership.”
   “Well, there are circumstances that are….(blah, blah, blah),” he said for another 10 minutes.
   “Look I don’t want to waste your time or ours,” I said. “Are you interested?”
   “No, not at all,” he replied.
   I responded politely and the conversation ended.
   
   

   However, because he was unwilling or unable to simply tell me that he didn’t think it was a good fit, he ended up wasting 30 minutes beating around the bush. These 30 minutes are minutes that I could have used to find new partners. Be direct.
   
   
3. Failure to Take Control
   
   Far too often sales reps don’t take control of the process. I say process because it is widely known that reps should take control of the actual sales call. The rep should lead in asking questions, providing answers and providing context for the conversation. That is widely understood. What is less understood is the absolute necessity for sales reps to lead in the sales process.
   
   What does this mean?
   
   It means that a prospect should never have to ask ‘what are the next steps?’ or ‘what are my options?’ or ‘can you send me more information about x?’ The rep should always be one step ahead and should always lay out the next steps clearly. There should never be any wishy-washing about when the next appointment is, or what the next step is. The rep should be in firm control of the process.
   
   
4. Failure to Follow-Up
   
   The initial sales call went great. The product seems like a good fit. What do you do next? You follow-up! Too many leads fall through the cracks of a sales process far too often. This should never happen. Make sure to follow up with prospects. Be aggressive and don’t forget about them. FREE Sales Training eBook

ContactPoint NGA WDDA

The Super Bowl: Keep Fighting

Sports provides a very accurate portrayal of the effort necessary for success. Case in point was the Super Bowl.  FREE - Smart Managers eBook

Six weeks ago the New York Giants were teetering on the edge of destruction. They were fighting just to get in the NFL playoffs. They needed to win almost every game at the end of the regular season just to continue playing.

Fans in New York were openly calling for the head coach, Tom Coughlin, to be fired. He had 'lost his team,' the critics said. He was no longer effective, he was too old and his methods too archaic. There were even rumblings that some New York Giants players were beginning to jump ship and quit on their coach. They felt that his strategies were too boring and that he was too cantankerous. He fined players for being late to meetings, openly berated millionaire athletes in front of the team and appeared generally unhappy.

The players were quitting. The season was slipping away. All seemed lost. But then the tide suddenly turned. There is no 'moment' when things got better. They just sort of did. It happened slowly, almost imperceptibly, but it happened.

The Giants started winning. Their quarterback, Eli Manning, who occasionally shows flashes of brilliance, began playing more consistently. The players were showing emotion and attitude. They were playing like they had something to prove. They were playing like they had a chip on their shoulders. And it paid off.

The Giants rolled into the playoffs after a mediocre 9 - 7 NFL season. They smashed their first opponent. Smashed the league's best team, the Green Bay Packers, in their second game. And then beat a very good 49ers team to get to the Super Bowl. Then in the midst of the most watched TV program in American history, the Giants beat the New England Patriots.

Why did they win? According to their quarterback Eli Manning, the answer is simple: " We never quit. We never stopped fighting."

These are, no doubt, valuable lessons to lean in our lives and in our businesses.

FREE - Smart Managers eBook

ContactPoint NGA WDDA

Call Recording and Sales Success

Most people are afraid of being held accountable for their actual performance.

People are terrified of being held accountable for their actions. They are terrified of their performance being dissected and critiqued. They are terrified of the truth.

Perhaps, this is why some people bristle at the idea of having their sales call recorded. Perhaps, this is why some industries struggle with the concept of recording sales conversations.

Perhaps they don't want to be held accountable for their actions. Perhaps they don't want their bosses or their colleagues to hear them in action.

Call recording is a naked sales call. The rep can't hide what's really happening. There's no way to 'dress up' a call recording. There's no way to hide the truth. If your sales call has a big gut and love handles, call recording will reveal that. You can't hide anything when the call is being recorded.

That's perhaps, why some reps don't want their calls recorded. The thought of their manager hearing their occasional failures is simply too much to bear. It's too hard to deal with.

Here's the truth: people who think like that are wussies (and they probably shouldn't be selling anyway).

If someone is adament that they don't want their sales conversations recorded, you have to ask a simple question: what are they hiding? Are they hiding their utter lack of skill on the phone? Are they hiding their inability to close the deal or ask open-ended questions? What is their problem? What are they hiding?

Call recording has massive benefits for any business that employs it. We've written about '26 Ways to Use Call Recording at Your Business.' We've also spoken about the benefits of cheap call recording. Watch those videos here.

ContactPoint NGA WDDA

New Product to Optimize Marketing and Sales Performance

ContactPoint, a member service for both the NGA and WDDA, is announcing the immediate availability of the beta version of their groundbreaking new product, LogMyCalls. LogMyCalls is the solution for any glass and window & door business that want to measure and optimize the effectiveness of their marketing and improve their sales performance. 

LogMyCalls also records incoming customer phone calls and allows users to search them, group them and even score them. This can be used to gather real-time customer feedback and dramatically improve sales and customer service performance. LogMyCalls provides insight into the whole process—from advertising to closed sale. You spend a lot of money on marketing to get the phone to ring—make sure every call is being handled effectively.

So, whether you’re a big business that needs sophisticated marketing analytics tools and call recording, a medium sized business that wants to set up an IVR or geo-route calls to the nearest location, or a smaller business that simply wants to know if you wasted money with that latest marketing effort and improve your ability to sell—LogMyCalls is for you. (And it’s much cheaper than you think).  

Visit LogMyCalls.com to sign up or call 866-811-8880.

Setting Employee Expectations

In our previous SellWithPower Blog we talked about miscommunication. We established that many bosses (if not most) fail to clearly communicate exactly what they expect from their employees. They simply fail to tell their employees what is important to them. They fail to tell their employees what the most important tasks are they should accomplish each day. They fail to communicate.

So, here's the big question: how can managers improve? How can they do a better job of communicating their expectations with their employees?  Here are some tips to help you improve now:

1. Determine what the most important responsibilities for each employees are. Write them down. You need to define what you want from each employee before you share that information with them.
2. Write down specific tasks you want accomlished by each employee/each day/week/month. What are the most vital thingsthey should get done? In what order?
3. Now that you know what is most important for each employee to accomplish, you can tell them. Meet with each employee and write down these specific responsibilities/tasks. Make sure they understand clearly what you expect of them. Encourage the employee to ask questions. Be willing to change or amend your list of responsibilities and tasks.
4. Hold your team accountable. Ensure there are consequences (positive and negative) when a task or responsibility is completed on time (or isn't).

By following these 4 quick tips you can mitigate miscommunication between employees and management. The other factor we really didn't discuss here is setting goals with employees. You can read more about that here.

Free Leadership Training eBook - Learn management skills now.

Bad Customer Service: The Silent Killer

We have a new eBook available for free on ContactPoint.com. It's called Bad Customer Service: The Silent Killer. It does, basically, three things:

First, the eBook argues that customer service should be re-enthroned in the modern business. Customer service is king. It is the one thing you can control in your business. You can't change your location, your brand, your products or your business plan (at least not overnight). You can control customer service...so control it. Bad customer service is like a silent plague sweeping across businesses and employees across America. It will kill you, if you're not careful.

Second, Bad Customer Service: The Silent Killer will point out specific problems you may be having with customer service at your business. What are you doing wrong? What are the symptoms of bad customer service? How can you spot the minor problems before they consume your success and kill your company?

Third, this eBook will examine ways to fix customer service right now. It talks about management strategies for top-down customer service improvement. It discusses ways to deal with angry customers and steps for frontline employees to improve their customer service right now.

This eBook is designed to be your resource for improving customer service. So, download it (for free), share it, enjoy it. But most of all, learn from it. Use the tools found in the ebook and improve your customer service now!

ContactPoint NGA WDDA

The Seventh Key of Highly Effective Selling

7) Get a Commitment

Getting a commitment is the actual solution to the problem. If the customer gets off the phone or leaves your place of business without a solution we have failed to accomplish our objective. (Remember they wanted to buy from you, right?)

You are wasting your time and the time of your customer if you are not willing to ask for the business. Your customers expect to be asked – they want to be asked. It’s that simple. If you have fear around asking or being rejected, get over it or get someone to help you with this final step.

FACT: Statistics show that when you ask for the business directly after giving a price, you will get the business 150% more than if you don’t ask for the business after giving the price.

So maybe that little thing called “fear of rejection” is nagging at you. How can you be sure they will say yes? Well the answer is to not be afraid of a “no”. I mean what is the worst that can happen? A “no” doesn’t mean anything about you, so don’t personalize it. Every now and again we have to play psychologist and do some role reversal. If you were the customer, looking for a product and wanting to buy, why would you say no? What are the road blocks to a yes? Without being pushy, ask some clarifying questions. What is the basic need of the customer? What are the limitations? Is there room for flexibility?

The real objection is not the price. It is making sure the customer sees the value in the price. Yes, today they can go “Google it” and find 10 other competitors that have the same product as you. But what will set you apart is your attention to the customer’s wants and needs, your knowledge about the product, your ability to build a relationship and your willingness to be assertive about the sell. Being confident in yourself will show, and it will help the customer trust in you on their way to getting their wallet.

Let’s look at the typical objections you get when the customer does not want to buy your product or service. In general, all objections turn out to be a version of the same four reasons. Though customers may call their objection by different names, they are the same basic issues with the same practical solutions. This means that the objection is something that is usually a practical, manageable situation for which we can prepare.

There are really only four basic objections. Every objection is some version of: 

• I am not the decision maker.
• Price is too high or more than I expected.
• Not time yet.
• I’ll call or check back later and let you know. (this is a “no”)
• Just send me a quote in writing. (this is also a “no”)
• Shopping ahead and just trying to get prices.

If they say “no” ask or acknowledge their objections. Let them know that you heard what they said. Remember, as a consultant, in order to meet their needs you need to understand their reasoning. Sometimes restating their objection is enough. Other times, you will need to probe further to find out specifically what does not work. You can do this by simply and non-defensively asking the customer, “Why?”

Example:

- Customer: “No thanks.”

- Rep: “Okay. Can I ask why?”

- Customer: “I don’t like the price.”

- Rep: “What specifically about the price don’t you like?”

In this example, the salesperson responds by acknowledging and restating the customer’s objection in the form of an open-ended question. This is the beginning of a dialog that will help you ask the necessary questions to overcome their objections or at the very least continue to build rapport that will pay off for you later.

Just remember, you get more business if you ask for the business after giving a price. So don’t be afraid to ask, the answer could give you just what you are looking for.

Free eBook - The 7 Keys of Highly Effective Selling

ContactPoint NGA WDDA

The Sixth Key of Highly Effective Selling

6. Check Their Temperature

A trial close is a very valuable sales technique that enables you to do a temperature check as to your level of rapport with the customer and the customer’s overall receptiveness. A trial close ensures you are getting “buy-in” along the way and that you are on the right track in your customer’s mind. It also enables you to formulate your questions and your approach based on periodic, real-time feedback throughout your conversation. There are two main types of trial closes: open-ended and close-ended.  

“Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your level of service, and then tell friends about it.”  - W. Edwards Deming

Here is an example of an open-ended trial close:

• Rep: “Because you mentioned having so many boxes, I am going to recommend shelving units; they will give you three times the storage capability and allow for ease of movement and access. How does that sound?”
• Customer: “Sounds good.”

OR

• Rep: “You are getting up early every day for your conference, so I am going to add a complimentary in-room continental breakfast. How will that work for you?”
• Customer: “That would be great.”

A closed-ended trial close is most powerful and definitive when used after stating a feature and a benefit. It is designed to get a real “yes” or a “no”. Now don’t be afraid of NO. By getting an objection now, we can go back, ask clarifying questions, recalculate, resell and ask the trial close again before we give a price and ask for the business in a hard close. 

Here is an example of a closed-ended trial close:

• Rep: “Based on what you are telling me, I am going to recommend that Lion Grip tread. As I mentioned, it is the most aggressive tread we offer. It would be perfect for winter driving in Michigan. As a benefit, for only an addition $100, we will take your old tires and donate or recycle them and give you one extra new tire, so in the event of an emergency you have a comparable and reliable spare. Does that sound like it will work for you?”
• Customer: “Yes.”

OR

• Rep: “We have an executive suite with the complimentary in-room continental breakfast and I can add an entertainment package upgrade so you have everything you need to be comfortable and unwind from your busy work schedule. Would that fit you need?”
• Customer: “No. I don’t want to pay for the entertainment package.”
• Rep: “So the room will work for you without the entertainment packet, right?”
• Customer: “Yes.” 

The habit we are seeking to develop is to consistently and confidently perform a trial close each time we have given a feature and benefit. If we are off track with the customers, a trial close helps us know what the customer is thinking and how we should modify our communication in order to hit their hot button.

It is very helpful to use the trial close throughout a sales call. Doing so enables us to create buy-in and move the process along so that when we get to closing most of the heavy lifting or hard work has already been done.

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Why Customers Leave

Whether you want to admit it or not, your business makes mistakes. Maybe the quality of your work wasn't good (just one time, of course). Perhaps, your billing was incorrect and your customer was charged too much. Maybe, a job took too long, or there was something wrong with a product you sold your customer.

These things happen to every business. And statistics show all of these things are forgiveable. Your customer will forget about any billing dispute, most quality issues and pretty much everything else you throw at them.

But, statistics show they will not forgive you for bad customer service.

Bad customer service is the unpardonable sin. Your customer simply won't forget it. Here's a stunning statistic that demonstrates this:

- 86% of people say they've stopped doing business with a company because of just one bad customer service experience (up from 69% in 2007) - Harris Interactive, Customer Experience Impact Report

Think about that! Almost 90% of the time customers will not return if they've had a bad customer service experience. Wow!

We've talked about how to provide legendary customer service here and here. So I won't explain that again. What I want to figure out is this: why will a customer leave you because of bad customer service and not because of other mistakes your business may make?

Here is the answer: Customer service is personal. A billing dispute isn't personal. A missed appointment isn't personal. A dirty hotel room isn't personal. Neither is a shoddy job.

But, customer service is VERY personal.

If a customer is treated poorly by you or your employees they will not forget it. They have been personally offended. You have made the customer feel dumb, disrespected or angry. They've been frustrated and upset. They won't forget it.

That is why, 86% of the time, they won't return.

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Helping Your Employees Succeed

Effective managers are in touch with their team members. They speak to their employees constantly. They seek them out at least once a day to see how things are going and to see if there's anything they can do to help them. Ineffective managers usually don't speak to their employees each day. They aren't aware of their struggles, their concerns or their problems. They only talk with their employees in official meetings and capacities. They don't truly know what's going on.

The following tips will help your employees know that you really care about them:

Talk. Spend time talking with your each member of your team daily (if possible). Ask them open-ended questions about all sorts of things, personal and business. Learn to follow their lead. You don’t have to talk business all the time. Remember the goal is to let them know that you care about them.

Ask. Ask each team member how he, or she, is doing. Ask for suggestions to improve their job. Ask what you can do to make their jobs better. Be sure to follow up. If you can't solve the problem, tell them why at a later time. If you tell them “no” immediately, they will think you are just dismissing them.

Thank. Thank your individual team members. Notice positive contributions each member makes and give them positive feedback. People don’t often get thanked for just doing their job. Making your team feel appreciated is important. Productivity and morale will improve. Simply: your team will perform better when you compliment them.

Let go. If something bothers you, like a messy desk, or the way someone laughs, just let it go. See what happens. Many things that bother us are not ultimately important in the big picture of increasing revenue. See what happens – just for a day. If your world doesn’t fall apart, then try letting little things go for a week. (This is something to try in your personal life as well).

Pretend. Experience what your customer experiences. Pretend you are a customer and then share your observations with your team. Use the information to improve your team’s performance. Giving feedback in this way is critically important.

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The Fifth Key of Highly Effective Selling

5) Personalize Where Possible 

Building value is an essential step as a sales consultant because it is very important to position yourself, first and foremost in your customer’s mind, as the authority; the expert; the industry leader; or the company with the best solution (i.e. the one that offers the most value or has a unique advantage over your competition).

It is easier to do this up front, at the beginning of a recommendation to your customer, than to try to mention it later as way to overcome objection. Some companies will suggest a standard competitive positioning statement that should be mentioned before you launch into recommendation and price.

Here are some examples:

• “Just so you know, your purchase comes with a 120-day money-back guarantee. If for any reason you want to cancel your subscription or return your product, you can do so – no questions asked. We are the only company that offers this kind of promise.”
• “Our customer service reps and mechanics are available to you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We are always there to help whenever you need us.”
• “What sets us apart from our competition is that all of our storage containers feature our patented locking system. They are the most secure doors in the industry.”
• “Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection.”
  Kim Collins – World Champion Sprinter

A benefit only builds value in the mind of your customer if it addresses a stated need or concern. Personalize the sharing of your features and benefits by referring to information you gleaned about your customer during your questioning process. By following this approach, you become a consultant instead of a salesperson. Because you listen to and address the customer’s specific needs in your recommendation, you demonstrate to the customer that your product or service is designed to solve their problem.

There are 5 common areas that customers care about in regard to how your product or service will benefit them.

To be effectively building personal value, every benefit must tie back to at least one of these five common areas of customer interest in some direct or indirect way. It is not enough to assume that the customer will make this connection. You must state the connection as a notable personal benefit for the customer as part of your presentation.

Personalizing has mostly to do with referring back to what the customer actually told you. It is fitting or customizing the product or service you sell around your customer’s needs. And it’s important to remember that not all benefits are important to a customer. One common mistake is to outline ALL of the benefits to a prospective customer, even the ones that are not important to them. This can actually work against you because it tells the customer that you don’t know what they want nor understand their needs. You’re just shooting in the dark hoping to hit on something that will “sell” them. Keep in mind that if the customer does not talk about it, you don’t want to talk about it.

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The Fourth Key to Highly Effective Selling

4) Discover the Real Motivation

When asking questions, listen and acknowledge the responses. This approach creates a true dialogue with a customer and allows us to build relationship, rapport, and trust while learning what matters most to the customer. You are essentially solving a mystery. What is their real motivation? What are they really looking for and why are they really talking to you.

If you were selling hand tools, like drills for example, you would want to realize that ultimately the customer doesn’t what the drill; they want the hole that the drill will create. By staying focused on the benefit or the end result, the customer is seeking; you will find solutions to their needs more readily.

Open-ended questions are used to get your customer to open up and talk to you. These types of questions also help prevent us from making assumptions. Open-ended questions also expose sales opportunities and create more openings for familiarity and rapport with your customer.

Probing questions are a tool used for extracting more information about a topic. They show you are not only hearing your customer’s response, but that you also understand and care. Are you interrogating or confronting? Remember to put a smile in your voice and mind your tone. How you ask a question makes the difference between sounding helpful and curious or like an interrogator.

If you have truly grasped the concept of leading the conversation (the Second Key to Highly Effective Selling)you will be able to use this as a key to discovering the motivation of the customer. So let’s recap from the beginning. Your first interactions should be poised and professional. Remember to use their name. You should demonstrate how to generate customer comfort and familiarity. Asking some basic questions also provides you with a direction when looking for the motivation. Ask clarifying questions and restate. Finally, always remember your TONE! Creating a friendly rapport with the customer is key.

When a customer approaches a sales person about a product, this is when the discovery for the real motivation happens. As they ask questions, think to yourself, why would they want to know that specifically about the product? What are their priorities? Once you have identified the priorities for information they are seeking you can piece together the puzzle for their motivation.

Another way to be sure you are in tune with you customer is to simply ask. Are they looking for a specific product and is their motivation related to a projects or specific need? Using the 5 w’s, ask some clarifying questions. Sometimes this guess-and-check method can be more effective because we are ensuring that our assumptions are correct.

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The Third Key to Highly Effective Selling

3) Ask the Right Questions and Actively Listen

A “consultative” salesperson differs from the average salesperson by becoming an advisor and an expert to your customer. It means asking questions and helping a customer make wise decisions based on their needs versus traditional sales approaches that can feel pushy to the customer. The employee may still be doing much of the talking, but they are strategic in asking questions and listening actively. Open-ended questions get the customer talking, sometimes even selling themselves. Would that make things easy!?

“To serve one must listen to almost anything without losing one’s temper or self-confidence.”                   -Robert Frost

Another trademark technique is more of a traditional approach, hard-closing. These techniques are used to capture the sale and essentially coerce the customer to commit to something. This practice is more commonly used by sales people in an effort to close a one-time sale, where less care is place on the long-termrelationship with the customer. When using a consultative sales approach, you look after your customer’s best interest. Once you know what matters most to your customer, you can sell based on the values they care about. Understanding your customer’s needs and wants allows you to better “personalize the offer.” Skilled and successful salespeople who use a consultative selling approach build a rapport and long-term relationship with their customers.

Now that you understand what it means to take the consultative approach to selling, we must pay attention to the way we phrase questions. It is about learning from or qualifying the customer in order to provide the best service possible and then recommending as much product as is appropriate. Secondary is the ability to hear, listen and understand what is being said by the customer and to know how that relates to what you have to offer. Successful salespeople understand that getting their customers to talk and offer information about themselves is one of the most important skills they can master. There are three key questioning techniques that help us extract information in a conversational manner:

1. Open-ended questioning allows for a variety of responses from your customer. This type of questioning injects a conversational and “personal tone” into the interaction. Inquisitive and curious in nature, open-ended questions begin with the words who, what, when, where, why and how.
2. Probing questions are also open-ended and utilize the 5 w’s and how. However, this type of questioning is built upon the answer to the previous question. Probing questions are a tool used for extracting more information about a topic. They show that you are not only hearing your customer’s response, but that you also understand and care.
3. The final piece in the questioning trio has a definite purpose, to steer a conversation back to the task at hand (selling) or to ask for the business (be willing to go for “No”). Close ended questions allow for control of a conversation and are best used during restating for trial closes.

When you are actively listening, the customer will feel acknowledged in the conversation. Be conscious of how your tone affects the believability of your response. Ensure that you have identified the basic needs of the customer and review if necessary the details of what they are after. This is one way to let your customer know that you are actively listening and that you will meet their needs. If you need to ask clarifying questions to get specific details, don’t be afraid to do it. It shows both humility and interest.

Remember, to show the customer you are actively listening: restate, let them talk, utilize the 5w’s, build the relationship, use their name, display curiosity and be purely interested. The more you can incorporate these tips into your conversations with the customer, the more they will notice that you are in fact listening and ready to help.

Using the 5 w’s, gather information about the customer. Restate facts for clarification and then make sure that what you communicate in a way that satisfies what they want. Remember, you are a consultant in the eyes of your customer. You will consult with them about their needs and find ways to get them what they want. They found you, they came to your place of business, and they want to spend their money.

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Questions Every S.M.A.R.T. Manager Should Ask

Sales managers (really every kind of manager) can use the S.M.A.R.T. goal setting process to help them be better managers. Questions are a big part of the goal setting process--but more importantly, of the goal-achieving process. Start by exploring what is working and what needs improvement. Ask for feedback from your team. Some good questions that you should answer are these:

• Why is your work meaningful and worthwhile? (Note, worthwhile work starts with being important and continues to explore the reasons why the work is worth doing.)
• How can this work have more impact for you?
• What is great about your company and what you do? How can you share this vision with others?
• How is your team great?
• What is great about your specific job?
• What is working for you?
• What needs improvement?
• How do you make the world a better place?
• In what ways can you make this fun?
• How can you celebrate your successes?

All work can be turned into meaningful work with the correct mindset. Even if your employees are digging ditches or working an assembly line in a factor--they can find satisfaction in doing a worthwhile job if they see the big picture and how their actions and attitudes make a difference.

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The Second Key to Highly Effective Selling

Take the Lead.  There is a delicate line between aggressive and assertive. A salesperson that is of the “consultative” mind will assert themself and take the lead. Remember, we are assuming that because this customer has called you or come into your place of business that they WANT to do business with you. Why else would they be there?

You may be curious, what does “take the lead” mean? To take the lead, we must assert ourselves as a consultant to the customer by expressing our knowledge so that the customer knows that you are the expert and they need not look any further. Believe it or not, most people like to be lead. It makes things simpler and easier.

A good phrase to accomplish asserting yourself as the expert, and taking ownership of your next sale, is to simply state to the customer or potential client, “I can help you with that!” Remembering what was discussed previously in the first key to highly effective selling, your tone must absolutely convince the listener that yes, you can and will help them. They do not need to go anywhere else to get what they need. You now have their business.

The next step in taking the lead is to be sure to capture details that will let the customer know that you truly care. Be sure to ask the customer their name and use it when communicating with them. Now that they know that you will help them and that you know them, they are willing to give you a chance. Part of preparing for the phone call or your next face-to-face sale is to be sure to take notes and write their name somewhere you will see it stand out.

“Names have power. When spoken with respect, our names provide us with a sense of belonging.”

                  -Norman Vincent Peale

After you have taken note of their name, attention to detail is always a nice follow up. If the name is uncommon or difficult to pronounce, ask them how they say it. This shows respect by calling them as they would like to be addressed.

When talking to the customer the person that is taking the lead will be sure to note the objectives and basic needs of their customer. Restate their objectives and basic needs to them, using their own words so they recognized that you are asserting yourself and producing what they want. This technique will also show the customer that you are in fact listening and giving them the attention that they are after. The customer wants to buy, that is why they are there. They came to you.

The last thing to remember when taking the lead is contact information. If you don’t close it right then and there, be sure that you schedule a follow up, gather their information and set a time with them. If you need a moment to look into other questions that they have or if there are objections that are stopping you from giving them what they came for, it will make the ability to sell to them more fluid if you schedule a time to follow up. In this situation, it is wise to immediately take notes about the experience and remember as much detail as possible. That way you can call into remembrance the next time you see them any quirks or specific things they were looking for. This will help you build the relationships with your customer. Being prepared will give you the confidence you need and show that you have taken the lead to fulfilling the sale.

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The First Key To Highly Effective Selling

Attitude Is Everything. One of the principles to a successful customer interaction is to build a relationship/rapport with the client or customer.

“It’s not so much what you say, but how you say it that counts.”
          – American Psychological Association – Research Report

Believe it or not, what you are feeling inside is often unconsciously revealed on the outside through the tone of your voice. Try this exercise: Think about something that makes you unhappy. Okay, now that you are thoroughly in a bad mood say out loud “How can I help you?” Notice the tone and the energy of your voice. Is it welcoming and inviting? Now let’s try it another way. Think of something that makes you VERY happy and repeat the same phrase. Notice the huge difference in sound and energy? Especially over the phone, the tone of your voice is the biggest indicator to the person listening. Learning to reflect a positive attitude; is the mindset of a “closer”. When your tone is friendly and reassuring, it is hard to think negatively about the experience. You begin with the intent to close this sale and provide the service necessary to make it happen.

An effective way to ensure a positive tone is to actually smile while you are talking. Make a smile come through the phone or smile while you speak. Don’t only wear that smile but speak in a way that the person listening can “see” your smile. Always consider the alternative perspective. If you were the one listening, would this sound pleasant? Would YOU want to interact with YOU?

Another way to facilitate a positive attitude over the phone is to make sure you are well prepared. If you are flustered and disorganized, this will not help your quest to provide the customer with optimum service. Also, maintain good flow in the conversation and avoid speaking over the customer. Make notes before your call to stay organized and do any additional research before picking up the phone. This level of control conveys confidence in your ability to serve them.

These same principles apply for face-to-face interactions. You don’t have to be a good actor to provide excellent customer service. Find reasons for motivation every day. Set goals for yourself and maintain a positive attitude. But most of all, believe it! You can do this, even if you hear no’s. Don’t be afraid to dream big and go after what you want. With an upbeat attitude and finding happiness in what you do, your tone will become naturally positive. Although you may not be able to prepare for an impromptu presentation, do your homework. Make sure that you know the ins and outs of the product you are selling. Practice presenting and don’t be shy.

The last key in face-to-face presentation is not to lie. Many sales people make the mistake of being a “know-it-all” and they feel like fluffy white lies make them look better when in reality, it is hurting their cause. Customers can usually spot a stretch of the truth and that diminishes the salesperson’s ability to the gain trust of the customer. It will also affect your tone. Be confident in owning what you know and then tell the customer that you will do everything you can to find the answers if you don’t have all the facts up front.

FACT: 86% of all communication interpreted over the phone is based on tone of voice. Only 14% is based on the words we choose. Tone conveys our confidence level and communicates how we feel and what we believe.

The ability to express a pleasant tone over the phone and in person is directly related to the attitude we have going into a call. Be prepared, organized and confident.

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