Conversions 101: 9 techniques for inbound sales specialists

techniques for inbound sales specialists

With inbound sales and marketing, these professionals have one major advantage over their peers: The prospect is already interested in their product or company.

Because callers are already responding to a compelling ad or call to action, they could be considered halfway down the sales funnel already. But that doesn’t mean the inbound sales person on the other end of the phone can just kick back and take the order. Often, information and persuasion is still needed to compel the caller to commit to a purchase.

As such, your staffers must be trained and ready to make conversions happen. Fortunately, tools like Dial800’s CallView360 make it easy for you to automatically record incoming calls and conversations so you can help personnel review effective real-life closing techniques.

While businesses differ in the extent they wish their salesmen to employ hard-sell methods, here are some tried-and-true closing techniques they may wish to know and understand.

  1. Ask for the order. It sounds simple, but untrained staffers often miss this key step in the process once caller questions have been addressed.
  2. Assume an order is imminent. This closing, which often relies on words such as “will” and “when,” jumps a step forward, asking a waffling caller something like “How will you be paying for this?” or “When would you like it delivered?”
  3. Offer a choice. To spur a decision, this kind of close moves the caller along mentally by asking him to choose between product options, e.g., “Would you like your new running shoes in cool silver or warm gold?” or “Would you like this delivered to your home or office?”
  4. Start with a small agreement. When a prospect is hemming and hawing, you can move him forward once he approves something minor. For instance, he may say yes to something like, “Would this size printer work well in your office?” after which you can ask him to narrow down printer features and a price point.
  5. Create urgency. Wavering callers may be persuaded to buy if you assert that the deal in question won’t be available at a later date. Of course, your integrity suffers if the prospect later finds out that wasn’t true.
  6. Counter an objection. If the caller states why he isn’t ready to buy, you may be able to close by asking, “If I can compromise on that, would you move forward with the purchase?” — then making the compromise so he feels compelled to move forward.
  7. Negotiate. Even if the caller isn’t clear on his objection, you can still volunteer a compromise such as, “If I can take 10 percent off the price, can you approve this purchase?”
  8. Show you’re listening. Some customers indicate their intent to buy by zeroing in and asking questions about a specific product, focusing on price, asking others’ opinions or using language indicating they already see themselves taking possession. Savvy salesmen pick up on such statements and wrap up their conversation and secure the order without wasting additional time.
  9. Summarize pros and cons. Assuming the advantages of buying the product outweigh the disadvantages, verbally review them both with the prospect so he recognizes the balance in your favor.
  10. Listen to your Calls.  The more you utilize call recording to review and train with your team, the more effective they’ll be with every inbound sales call.

Learn more about how Dial800 can help optimize your inbound call marketing by calling 800-700-1987.

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