Telephone sales. Presentation, handling objections, closing a transaction

And again: although it’s not a glossy, but a “live” photo of the sales department.

An extensive telephone sales guide for b2b, part 2 of 4.
In this part: general concepts, tips, mistakes, examples, expert opinion. The link to the previous part is indicated at the beginning of the article.

I continue to write an extensive telephone sales guide.

In the previous (1) part:

Stages of sales. Establishing contact. Identification of needs (1 of 4)

If anyone is too lazy to read in parts - write me a VK . When I complete all 4 parts, I will drop the links to each of them so that you can read in a row.

Product presentation

The only sales stage in which not the client but the seller speaks is the stage of product presentation. Usually, a sales manager only asks questions that the customer answers, but in this case the seller’s monologue occurs. A kind of "one-actor theater", in which for a vivid performance it is necessary to know your product lengthwise and crosswise, otherwise the whole monologue will turn out to be "watery".

The essence of the stage is to, based on previously identified needs, connect the properties of the product with the benefits for the client, thereby correctly expressing to the client the essence of the proposal. The ability to make a vivid and convincing presentation is a great art, directly related to the confidence of the sales manager.

Errors in product presentation and solutions

Ignorance of the product

Do you know how to "pour water"? If not, study, because without knowing the intricacies of your own product, you will have to pour a lot of water. Your monologue will be too vague if you have nothing to say about your product. This means that you will be unconvincing, and the client will be lost.

Solution: continuous training, repetition of a mat. parts. Let a knowledgeable person ask you the maximum possible number of questions about the product. Next, write down those questions that you cannot give a confident answer to. Make a training plan and find answers to all questions. Repeat 2-3 times with different knowledgeable people.

Seller's timidity

Are you often shy when dealing with strangers? Is it difficult for you to conduct a monologue, since you doubt your abilities? Uncertainty in the voice, hesitation, “slavish” tonality - a sure way to repel the client’s interest.

Solution: listen to your dialogs. Compare with the dialogue of successful sellers. Draw conclusions. Ask a colleague to follow you so that he can constantly remind you to be more confident. Over time, this will become a habit. A good motivation is to compare previous dialogs with new ones, where you are a confident person.

Lack of faith in the product

Each manager was faced with the fact that he had to sell something that he himself did not believe in. The reasons may be different: “Yes, who needs this at all”, “Our competitors have a better offer”, etc. It would seem: just do not work with a product that does not have faith, but it's not so simple - managers need to eat, and don’t everyone can be taken to where they would like to work. Of course, such hostility to your own product is the funeral march of the presentation's credibility.

Decision:Make lists of the pros and cons of your competitors. Make a list of issues that your product solves. Find negative reviews about competitors' products. Find positive reviews about your product. Using informational distortions, you will be able to consciously change your own attitude to your product. Caution: advice for sellers, but not for owners.

Wrong Benefits

Do you believe that there are special phrases that can convince anyone? Well, those like: “You save” or “Cheaper than the competition”? Welcome to the club for sellers who need training.

Solution: use only those benefits of the product that will be of interest to your client. To do this, you identified the needs of the client before the presentation - and press them. Everything is simple here: use the revealed benefits. I repeat: the benefits identified. If not, work on identifying needs to improve product presentation.

Throwing from stage to stage

Often I watch how sales managers start presenting a product, after which they go on to identify needs and return to the presentation again. In this case, your presentation will fail, as the client will immediately realize that you are desperately trying to grab at least for something that will allow you to convince him.

Solution (see video):


By the way, this same solution is suitable for the situation when you begin to give false promises to the client during the presentation process. If you start to invent the properties of your product on the go - remember the words of Viktor Fedorovich.

Pause at the end of the presentation

Perhaps the most elementary mistake is a pause at the end of the presentation. This is the very moment when the opportunity appears in the client’s head to ask you uncomfortable questions when you are completely unprepared for them.

Solution: ask the client a question at the end of the presentation. This will allow you to leave the initiative to yourself, as well as avoid uncomfortable questions. Example: “What do you say?”, “What do you think about this?” and other formulations. The main thing is to use “open” questions.

Work with objections

Objections are divided into explicit and hidden. Explicit client expresses independently, usually after your presentation. Hidden client does not express, but has in his head.

The essence of working with objections is reduced to a simple formula: to help the client cast aside doubts, fending off his arguments with his own. By the way, in the previous step I described how to avoid uncomfortable questions, but in reality they should be avoided only temporarily, as a tactical ploy: ultimately reveal hidden objections of the client. Why reveal hidden objections, run into uncomfortable questions (when ready for them)?

If he voices them during the conversation, you have a chance to convince him. If you do not voice it, the client will simply be left alone with his objections after talking with you, and this is very bad news for you. Simply put, the more you are able to identify and work out hidden objections during a conversation, the less likely it is that the client will doubt and think after he finishes the conversation with you.

Errors in working with objections and their solutions

I asked Vilen Shikoyants (who is Vilen, you can read at the beginning of the previous part of the article ): “What mistakes are often made when working out objections?” .


Below are Vilena's answers to my question:

Lack of blanks for processing objections

The grossest and most common mistake. Without prepared answers to calculated questions, you will not be able to react to the client’s attack properly, as a result of which the credibility of your arguments will be extremely low.

Solution: write down each unique objection of each client, prepare answers to each objection in advance. Try to remember after what words what objections arise and after what your answers what reaction will follow.

Fear of hearing no

Among newcomers, one can often encounter panic when a client says no. Often they even hang up to get rid of the source - the talking client. It is clear that something needs to be done with this.

Solution: download a client base on the Internet that is not relevant to your area. Make an absurd sentence, for example: "A black and white used TV for only 25,000 rubles." Call on this base and voice your proposal. First, you get used to hearing “no,” and then try to continue the sale after the first “no,” until the other person hangs up. In the end, you quickly get rid of your fear.

Customer interruption

Do you think that you already understood the client’s thought or that he is wrong? Do you want to interrupt him at a moment where he is wrong to correct? Maybe you want to say something like: “I understand your idea - you mean * something there *? Any person can not stand when they interrupt him and the client is no exception.

Solution: listen carefully to the client, use emotional connection and only then use the counterargument and seize the initiative.

Pause after answering customer's question

Often, managers respond to a customer’s objection and then fall silent. This leads to a loss of initiative in the dialogue. Each of your answers should end with a counter question. At the same time, do not try to answer a question with a question - give the client a detailed answer and ask the question only with the second sentence, without pausing between the sentences. In general, follow the format “Give an answer - ask a question”. Example:

- It's too expensive.

- Vasily, being in the place of the buyer, this is the first thing I would say in order to bargain. Will we bargain? This is normal.

The conclusion of the client to the auction is not the only possible option, but it is interesting, since you entice the client into a game in which it is easy to understand how interested he is.

Another option:

- Expensive.

- Vasily, if I were on the client’s place, it would be important for me to understand that for my money I won’t get bullshit. This offer includes * 1, 2, 3, 4 * - what do you think of this configuration?

And no incredibly idiotic questions, like:

- Expensive.

- In comparison with what?

I explain: the client is very unlikely to be able to answer this question. You just expose him as a stupid person, and he really will not like it. Even worse, if the client really has in his head an example of those who have better conditions than yours.

Exciting all the question: what to answer if they say: “I will think”?

- I'll think about it.

- What do you want to think about, Vasily?

- * hidden objection turns into explicit *

* Unfortunately, I distracted Vilen from the main work, so the question session had to be completed. Thanks to him for the answers *

Transaction completion

From the name it’s clear that at this stage it’s time to agree on something with your client. The essence of the stage is to take stock and carry out the target action: send a commercial offer, agree on payment, accept an order, send a brief for filling out and much more, depending on the subject of the conversation.

If all the other steps are completed correctly: making contact, identifying needs, presenting a product, practicing objections, the deal should be completed “like clockwork”, but it’s worthwhile to stipulate a couple of frequently made mistakes.

Errors at the end of the transaction

Trying to sell "one touch"

Imagine: they are calling you to order an animated video for a business. It seems like you are interested in it and you make it clear by your behavior. But here the following happens: the manager offers you to make an advance payment for creating the video so as not to waste time. No matter how interesting it is to you, not a single sane person will do such a thing, because it is not known what you should sign up for at all. The brief has not been filled out yet, you have not sent a commercial proposal, you have not seen examples of work. Simply put, you don’t know anything that goes beyond what the manager voiced.

Decision:try to sell in two calls. The first is to send a quotation and brief, if appropriate. The second is to agree on payment, or to perform another targeted action aimed at directly selling. Simply put, on the first call it is necessary to give the person acquainted with your conditions, and on the second call already to sell.

Blurry terms

Often, at the end of the dialogue, the manager does not specify any time frame within which the client must complete the target action. As a result, it becomes incomprehensible: the client is still thinking, or he simply “disappeared”, as is often the case. As a result: it is unclear whether it is worth calling the client to remind yourself, or not, and this will only scare him away.

Solution: always specify the time frame in which the client can complete the target action. For example: “How much time do you need to send us a completed brief, what do you think?”, “How much time do you need to make a decision, what do you think?”, “What do you think, how much time do you need to make an advance payment?”

Extra word

Sometimes at the end of the conversation, I relaxed and could say something that scared away a client who seemed ready for a deal. As far as I remember, the problem was quite common among other managers, but no one until the last could understand what was the matter - why did the client suddenly refuse?

Solution: just do not relax, hold on to the very end. Any extra word can be critical, because of which you will lose the client. This is the most annoying: when it already seems that the client is “ready”, but here such a nuisance happens.

In the next part (3 of 4):

• How to create a sales script
• How to get around the secretary