Course Outcomes

This telephone sales course will:

  • Explain how to make the most of the telephone as a sales and communication tool.
  • Offer ideas for establishing rapport over the phone.
  • Review consultative selling skills and their importance in telephone sales.
  • Suggest techniques for improving listening and questioning skills.
  • Provide a framework for making calls.

Course Overview

“Hi. How are you today?” “I was fine until you called!” No one ever said cold calling or even warm calling was easy. Selling by phone is a tough business. For that reason, the people tasked with the chore deserve every advantage they can get. This course focuses exclusively on the telephone as a sales tool. It is ideally suited for people making cold calls, warm calls, or those answering inbound inquiries. During the workshop, we will look at tactics for staying positive, methods for planning calls, techniques for researching prospects, ideas for getting past gatekeepers, and models for structuring conversations. The workshop includes extensive role-play opportunities and practice cases.

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Identify ways to make a positive first impression.
  • Sound fresh whether they are making call three or 300.
  • Quickly articulate the benefits of their products and services.
  • Research prospects.
  • Plan their calls and keep to a contact schedule.
  • Handle a range of responses.
  • Ask for a sale or permission to move to the next phase of the sales cycle.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline

Static on the Line: Understanding the Now

This program opens with a quick round-robin discussion about telephone selling and the experiences participants have had with the process: what’s worked well, challenges that have always existed, and challenges that have appeared due to changes in technology and prospect behavior. This discussion will surface what participants already know about selling via phone and the challenges they would like to address during the workshop.

Before Your Fingers Do the Walking: Knowing What You Have and Who Your Calling

In the information age, there is no reason for anyone to pick up the phone unprepared. First, salespeople need to understand what they have and why it’s great. Next, they need to have a pretty good idea as to why the person on the other end of the phone should want it. This program component looks at both of those topics. Working in teams, participants will craft benefits statements about their company, products, and services. Next, they will explore methods for researching specific customers and general customer groups.

Uncross Those Wires: The Importance of Good Communication Skills

This part of the program focuses on the communication process and the tactics available to people who must build rapport with others without the advantage of visual cues. We will discuss what’s missing in phone communication and how to compensate for a lack of visual information. In addition, we’ll spend some time discussing specific tactics for sounding fresh, professional, and sincere, regardless of whether it’s the first or fiftieth call of the day.

Operator Assistance: Pre-Call Planning 

Canned calls are rarely a good idea, but planned calls are essential. In this seminar segment, we will discuss the importance of working methodically, setting call goals, and having a plan before getting on the line. In this part of the workshop, participants will create a model that identifies the steps that should take place during each call they take or place.

Touch That Dial: Change Your Outlook

In most organizations, telephone sales is a volume business. Not everyone will say “yes,” and in some industries, a salesperson is far more likely to hear “no” most of the time. This module focuses on the importance of having a positive attitude and tactics for staying upbeat throughout the day. During this module, we’ll focus on self-talk and leaving the door open when the answer is “no.”

Ring Ring Ring: Let’s Practice

Practice makes perfect when it comes to building strong telephone-selling skills. In this part of the program, participants will role play a range of scenarios. Throughout this activity, they will receive coaching from the facilitator and feedback from the other members of the class.

Phone Tag and Call Backs: Dealing with the Unexpected

“Hi. This is John.  I’m not in right now, but leave me a message….” Voicemail! How salespeople leave a message can mean the difference between a deal and delete. In this part of the workshop, we will explore the ins and outs of leaving voicemails to which recipients are likely to listen. Additionally, in this portion of the program, we will also discuss methods for managing phone tags, missed appointments, and no shows. 

No Hang-Ups: Closing the Sale

Closing is part of every successful sale. In this final part of the course, we will look at methods for closing calls and asking for whatever is next in the sales cycle – whether it’s the actual sale or permission to call again.

By the end of this program, participants should be comfortable using the telephone as a sales tool.