Overcoming Call Anxiety-

First of all, what do you have to lose? If you don't pick up the telephone, you won't close any sales. Here are the steps to get yourself (or your reps!) going:

1. Plan to make at least 10-25 calls a day. (10 for outside sales reps, and 25 for inside sales reps). Schedule them in your contact manager or put it on paper. Make the commitment EVERY DAY!

2. Start with an easy call, first. Perhaps it's a regular customer or a favorite prospect. Beginning with a positive call, first, gets your day off to a good start. Just discipline yourself so that you are only making ONE of these early on each day (no cheating!)

3. Stay on the phone until you are done with the calls. If that means you have to stay late to accomplish your goals-do it! You'll become more efficient after about 2 weeks of following this plan.

Six "Magic" Words-
"Need"
"Want"
"Busy"
"Give"
"Opportunity"
"Partner"

Calling After Hours-
If you want to get to know your prospect-call after hours to find out and LISTEN! Using your advanced listening skills, key in on the prospect's voice inflection (is it energetic, positive, rapid, powerful, lethargic, deliberate, monotone)-you'll learn a lot before you ever have a conversation!

Incidentally: "after hours" can mean before 7am and after 8pm. Just call when the prospect is unlikely to be in his/her office. Avoid leaving a message the first time you hear the customer's voice. When you call back later in the day, or the following day, you should be better prepared to "match" the buyer's style-creating an opportunity to sell.

Now that your call anxiety problem has been solved, you are ready to make contact and close more sales. In the next SalesPEAK PERSUASIVE STRATEGIES Newsletter, you'll learn the next steps to success.

(c) Renee Walkup, SalesPEAK, 678 587-9911 www.salespeak.com