Most direct sales people are facing a critical shortage on a daily basis. . . not enough hours in the day. How can we get it all done?

Working with active accounts, marketing to inactive accounts, follow-up, paper work, and most importantly, prospecting for new accounts. This scenario presents a daunting challenge of economically, efficiently, and effectively handling your territory to grow your business. Look to your telephone for some of the answers. The use of the telephone can be a profitable and effective way of prospecting, qualifying, selling, and follow-up.

For those of you who think you can’t sell your product over the phone, keep an open mind. You will be surprised. I came to Sales Concepts from a company where all my sales were nose-to nose and toes-to-toes. I have been amazed at the power of the telephone for prospecting anywhere, presenting, closing, and keeping my name and the company name in the customer folder marked training.

I am not suggesting that we not make face-to-face calls. However, we need to prioritize these calls for maximum input and payback situations. With the average sales call costing over $200, we need to find other cost, time, and energy saving methods of contact. Unlike most operating costs, the phone continues to be less expensive with greater convenience and function. Think of how many more customer contacts you can have by telephone in a given period of time without time (asset) wastes of delayed flights, traffic, and broken appointments.

When in the office or on the road, you must be the strategist. Be proactive in planning your use of the telephone. Where in the sales process are you? Where can the phone add efficiency and effectiveness to your operation?

Contact	potential customers
Qualify	correct fit of your product and customer
Investigate	customer needs
Present Solution	customer-need based
Close	obtain commitment
Follow-up	keep customers secure repeat business build creditability, trust, and rapport keep competition out

Don’t play it by ear. Set specific targets and goals for each type call you plan to make each day—prospecting, contact, investigating, follow-up. Keep records of your calls and be persistent. Remember that your job is to keep your card in your customer’s file marked with your name, product, and service.

The Gatekeeper ... by Brent Bartenfeld 

The Telephone ... by Cheri English

Telemarketing ... by Katherine Duley