Unleash Your Sales Potential: Defeating the 2000-Pound Telephone

It’s ironic that the first place most salespeople procrastinate is in making sales calls. I could spend most of this blog trying to make my case, but I believe most of you already agree with me. You may even see it in yourself. One client once asked me, “How do you pick up the telephone when it weighs 2000 pounds?” What he meant was that he had a fear of picking up the phone and making sales calls because he felt he was going to receive a lot of rejection. While that may be true, it doesn’t mean that you don’t pick up the phone — no matter how much you visualize it weighing. The better solution is, start now and don’t ever stop.

One of the best ways to make sure that your phone calls are going to be made is the pre-plan your phone calls. That means that you create a list of the people you want to speak with and include all the information you’re going to need before you call. That includes the person’s name, the phone number, and the reason for your call. You may also want to include the name of the business your client contact works for, especially if you’ve never spoken to this person before.

If you don’t already know this, for every minute of preplanning you take, you will save five minutes of execution. I strongly urge you to have at least one days’ worth of sales calls ready to go before you pick up the phone. Also, plan your calls the day before you’re going to make them. You never want to use valuable sales time to do administrative prep work.

Another key to success is to make sure that you don’t put your phone down in between calls. Keep it in your hand and once you’ve disconnected with your last call, start dialing the next number. You’ll be amazed at how many more sales calls you can make in a day when you incorporate this strategy into your daily routine. Not only will you start getting more sales, but you’ll notice that your phone is rapidly getting lighter.

“Growth and comfort do not coexist.” – Ginni Rometty

Let me hear from you.

(This excerpt is taken from The Sales Academy.) I encourage you to click here to register for The Sales Academy 5-part series running on five consecutive Friday mornings beginning on October 4, 2024, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon Eastern Standard Time offered in person at Bellomo & Associates.