The 2012 B2B Tele-Sales Trend Report

What's Happening in the World of Telephone Selling and Marketing

What's in store for B2B tele-sales departments in 2012? This Special Report provides you with an abbreviated 'executive summary' of 10 trends that are impacting the world of telephone sales.
 
Tele-Trend #1: Telephone Selling Growth Spurt -Again
 
B2B tele-sales is growing at a rate of 7.5% compared to field sales at only .5%. Clearly more companies are jumping on the telephone band wagon. Telephone selling applications are also growing in complexity and sophistication thanks in part to technology and the internet and thanks in part to a newer generation of buyer who is relatively comfortable with less face to face interaction. However, growth means more competition and more options. Smart telephone executives will emphasize the quality of the sales call to give themselves a distinct, competitive advantage.
 
Tele-Trend #2: The Decline of the Cold Call
 
Cold call to closed call ratios with drop like a stone which means it will take more dials and connects to achieve the same results. With so many companies turning to the phone your buyer has more options. Savvy companies will look for ways to become more effective with the smart use of the internet (see below) combined with a higher quality call. More emphasis will be placed on 'smart dialing" (more skills, finesse and expertise) and less on 'hard dialling' (cranking out more phone calls).
 
Tele-Trend #3: The Growth of Visual 'Calls'
 
'Visual prospecting' is the intelligent use of e-mail to prospect because today's buyer is linked to visual messages through their smart phones at work in meetings, commuting, at home, at leisure, on the weekends, 24-7. Smart, 1-to-1 e-prospecting customized to the individual prospect and integrated with a well planned voice follow up campaign will change the telephone prospecting landscape.
 
Tele-Trend #4: The Rise of the Hybrid Rep
 
An interesting trend that seems to be emerging is that of the "hybrid sales rep." The hybrid rep is a cross between a field sales rep and an inside sales rep, often working from a remote location. What this means is the scope and dimension of selling will change significantly. A pure 'field selling' model and a 'pure telephone selling' model will merge. It will require a different type of rep and a different approach to account management and account development.
 
Tele-Trend #5: Finding (and Keeping) the Good Rep
 
Perhaps the single biggest challenge in the world of B2B tele-sales continues to be finding and keeping high quality sales reps.  Whether it is for a telephone selling position or for a 'hybrid' position there is no doubt that the quality of the rep is paramount. To distinguish themselves from their competitors and to implement more complex selling programs, companies need to re-think how they will attract better AND keep better quality reps. Radical shifting in compensation, training and coaching will be required.
 
Tele-Trend #6: Managing Less, Coaching More
 
Tele-sales managers absolutely MUST manage less and coach more. Sales reps typically don't sell more than they could or should simply because they are not very effective at selling. They forget, ignore, dismiss or dilute their skills sets. Managers must be actively engaged on the floor beside their reps getting them better at the sales game. Nothing - absolutely, positively nothing- will provide you with a better return on investment than coaching . Period. But the single biggest challenge is that most sales managers don't know how to effectively coach behavior ... if only because they have never been taught.
 
Tele-Trend #7: Relationship Marketing and Selling Facelift
 
Relationship selling and marketing seems good in theory but in practice it seems to have flopped. The problem is implementation. Companies flog their customers and prospects with offers and promotional literature but seem to do little to engage the client at a personal level. This can be tough on the phone but enhancing a relationship and building value over the phone needs a radical facelift.
 
Tele-Trend #8: Re-Focus on Measurement
 
Forget about dials and connects. They're like bikinis: they show a lot but not everything. Today's telephone sales application must also measure e-mail contacts, e-mail responses and e-dialogues . The way B2B communicates has changed and so too must be the way we evaluate the effectiveness of a rep.
 
Tele-Trend #9: Social Media Integration
 
Look for tele-sales departments and companies continue to struggle to come to grips with social media as a 'selling tool.' Be careful in determining what is marketing and what is selling and who should be doing what.
 
Tele-Trend #10: Leveraging the Moment
 
With live contacts on the decline, it is vital to seize the moment. Reps must make the most out of every contact they make or take. Whether it is cross selling, asking for a referral, or gathering market intelligence or whatever, companies need to teach their reps the skills and techniques to professionally and tastefully squeeze every ounce of potential from their contacts. This means skills development and training (not to mention coaching).
 
Summary
 
The B2B approach to telephone selling is constantly shifting and changing. Old style techniques, methods, strategies and ways of thinking are not working like they once did. To survive and thrive companies need to adapt and change. Pay heed to the trends and develop your program and your people accordingly.

The 7 Little Lies Prospects Tell Telephone Sales Reps

One of the secrets for being more effective and successful in telephone sales is to know the types of objections you are likely to encounter.  When you do, you are never caught off guard because you are better prepared to deal with them.  For instance, here are the top 7 objections telephone reps typically encounter in the initial phase of a call; usually during or right after the opening statement.  I call them ‘white lies’ because the prospect tosses them out because they want to get rid of you not because they’re honest truths. 

Lie #1: I’m in a meeting
When you hear this objection don’t you think, “Oh ya … then why did you answer the phone?”  This is a wonderful lie because it tends to make the caller feel slightly guilty that he/she interrupted.  It tends to work too.  Reps utter some sort of an vague apology and say they’ll call back.  Meanwhile, the lie worked in getting your call deflected.

Lie #2:  Call me back
This is a very clever lie because the prospect leaves you with the feeling of ‘hope.’  We kid ourselves into believing that she REALLY DOES want us to call back and so we fall for it. Sometimes we even suggest a time and a date to which they agree.  The only problem is the prospect is rarely there … thanks to call display and voice mail. 

Lie #3:  Send me/e-mail me some Information
This is such a brush off.  Sort of a cousin to the ‘call me back’ lie, this objection creates a degree of hope.  I have watched reps gleefully stuff an envelope or spend 15 minutes composing a wonderful e-mail with 9 attachments, all the while confidently believing the prospect is waiting with baited breath.  Don’t hold your breath on this one either.  The grotesque majority don’t want your e-mail, letter or fax. They asked for it to get rid of you. Don’t fall for it.

Lie #4: I’m busy…
This is not really a lie but the net result is still the same.  Guiltily the telephone rep feels like he’s an intrusion and gets knocked off his game.  Quickly the valiant rep tries to recover by asking when would be a better time.  The prospect says, “There is no better time, you’ll have to just try later.”  The call comes to a grinding halt.

Lie #5: Don’t Need/Want Anything Right Now
Delivered politely, this little lie works like a charm almost every time.  The poor sales rep doesn’t want to appear pushy and aggressive so he or she backs off immediately. I mean if there’s no need then there’s no opportunity, right?  The call ends nicely with a promise by the rep to call back ‘in a few weeks.’  Meanwhile the prospect has dodged a sales bullet and goes on merrily with his day.

Lie #6: Send me a Quote /Proposal
Ouch! This is probably the nastiest of the white lies.  It’s nefarious because the prospect might well be wasting a lot of your time and effort getting you to do work that he or she will never seriously consider.  Proposals or quotes suggest that the client is serious about buying. Diligently and eagerly the rep takes the time to churn out a quote or proposal and makes countless follow up calls. Meanwhile, other, legitimate prospects are ignored or put aside.

Lie #7: Satisfied with Current Vendor
Like its friend, “Don’t Need Anything Right Now” this lie is usually based on a truth. It works because it deflates the eager drive of the unsuspecting sales rep.   We take the prospect at his word and dejectedly hang up.  The prospect may indeed be happy with his vendor but a whopping good offer or an exciting new product may turn his head.  

3 Steps to Managing Little White Lies

The trick to dealing with these lies/objections is not to cave in.  Use these three steps to get past the lie and get the client talking.

Step #1: Empathize.  No matter what the prospects throws at you simply pause and say, “I understand.”  It buys you some time to think and catches the prospect off guard a bit.

Step #2: Ignore it. It’s probably a lie (although in some cases it could well be the truth) anyway so trying to respond to it won’t solve the problem.

Step #3: Ask a compelling question.  Start with this trigger phrase, “Jim, one quick question before I let you go…”  Believe it or not, most prospects have a conscience. They know they mislead you and many of them feel slightly guilty. They will usually feel compelled to answer the question. 

The trick is to ask a question that gets them thinking about a pain or a gain; a motivator; something that is compelling and out of the ordinary. For instance:

-A financial advisor might say, “Are you absolutely, 100% satisfied with your portfolio’s performance this year?” 

-A safety poster rep might ask, “Roughly how many man hours have you lost to industrial accidents over the last six months?”

-A sales trainer might inquire, “Are all your reps meeting and exceeding their sales quota for the year?”

- A TENS reps might ask a chiropractor, “Has the economic turn down had an impact on the revenues of your practise?”

Questions like these tend to give pause.  While they won’t always hook the prospect’s interest, some will.  If the question works, you can ask more because now the prospect is engaged. Mission accomplished.

This is where preparation and planning comes into play.  You KNOW with absolute and utter certainty that you’re going to encounter these seven little lies throughout your calling day.  If that’s true –and it is – then you need to have a strategy whereby you don’t fall for the lie and make a game of it by countering with a compelling thought, issue, concern, problem, opportunity. 

Never be lied to again! Know the little white lies and have your counter question prepared.