Posted by on January, 7 2020 8:29 pm
The majority of a consumer’s perception of your company or brand is formed before a purchasing decision is actually made. For outbound call centers, this means that the body of the phone call is the most important part of the sale - not the actual agreement of the consumer.
Salespeople are only human, though. They make mistakes. Those mistakes can lead to a failure to make the sale - and too many of them can be seriously detrimental to the company’s bottom line.
Highlighting and understanding the mistakes salespeople make in the call center setting is important since doing so can help you avoid these common missteps in your own facility. Here, we’ll take a look at mistakes salespeople make at every step of the sales process - as well as draw attention to some easy fixes for each of these.
Have you ever spoken to a salesperson who wouldn’t let you get a word in, edgewise? If so, you understand how frustrating this is for consumers - and how much it could be harming your sales approach. No one likes to feel like their input isn’t valued and making your consumer feel this way is an almost sure ticket to failed sales.
Instead of talking over your sales prospects, practice active listening on the phone. Ask relevant questions and remain engaged while listening to their replies. Even if you only have time for a few queries per person, this can mean the difference in making sales and making enemies of former leads.
It is good to have a solid sales approach under your belt as an agent. But that doesn’t mean you should use the same approach for every person you try to sell to. In fact, consumers will immediately detect if your sales approach is too impersonal and will rebel against it. You wouldn’t want someone to market the same way to you that they advertise to your grandmother, so why do the same to your consumers and clients?
In today’s world, we have the technology to personalize the way we interact with our sales prospects - every single one of them! Harnessing this technology means making more genuine connections with consumers and making them feel valued. This will almost certainly result in higher sales numbers, but also higher regard for your company - something that cannot be purchased. Only by putting in the work as salespeople can your team make every consumer feel important and special and realize the sales that result from those positive feelings.
Along with trying to market the same way to everyone, another common mistake salespeople make is trying to target the entire world as an audience. Even the biggest brands and most successful companies have target demographics. When they hope to expand, they understand that it will take a different, more specialized approach to diversify that demographic.
Instead of trying to connect with everyone, your sales team should be focusing on the quality of those connections. You undoubtedly have a target demographic, and the more specialized it is, the more likely you are to make sales based on catering to specific needs or interests.
Narrow down the audience you are marketing to and boost sales success. Yes, you may be making fewer calls and fewer connections as a result. But the connections that your team does make will be more valuable - and may go on to refer coworkers, clients, friends, and family members to make further connections in the future!
Are you a great salesperson? Do you have extensive industry knowledge and training? Are you known for meeting and exceeding your sales goals? Great. Now, forget about all of that. Why? Because yesterday’s sales success does little to impact today’s. No matter how well you have done before, it does not ensure success now - and resting on your past successes rather than reaching for continued growth and improvement is a common and very dangerous mistake to make.
Instead of thinking of success as linear, think of it as a continual cycle. You learn and grow and become good at what you do, but that approach will eventually become outdated. Then, it will be time to learn something new and innovate the way you approach things. Only in switching up your approach and rethinking the way you market can you hope to have continued success. Tomorrow’s achievement isn’t promised, especially in the world of call center sales!
As you can see, there’s a common pattern here. These mistakes are common because people in the sales industry make them frequently. No matter how much experience your team has, faulty equipment, improper training, or mismanagement can lead to easily-fixed mistakes. Thankfully, we at ChaseData have solutions for all of that - and so much more.
When you’re ready to stop making the same mistakes salespeople make every day in your industry, talk to the industry leaders at ChaseData. We have the tools and technology you need to turn the tide on common mistakes and make improvements to your sales strategy. Whether it’s an intuitive software solution or simply savvy suggestions from experienced professionals, we offer everything you need to make fewer mistakes - and more sales. Give us a call today to learn more!