Sorry, but this week I’m starting with a rant about one of my pet peeves – how people answer the phone. It drives me to distraction! You are out there, working hard, keeping your existing customers happy, shaking hands with prospective customers. Then your phone rings – while you are talking with someone else, while you are driving or while you are enjoying a few moments of music or catching up on the news. What do you do? Well, some of you are answering with that rushed “I can’t talk to you now” tone, or with music blaring in the background, or the voice a newscaster filling the air. Please, please stop! If your phone rings when it is inconvenient to talk, or when your surroundings are filled with noise, don’t answer. Let the call go to voicemail and keep your professional reputation intact!
On Thursday of this week I attended a breakfast panel discussion on sales and marketing. at InnovaCorp There was a lot of great information for businesses of any size and I’ll continue to talk about it in future blogs, but what I want to share with you this week is how thrilled I was when Paul Phillips, Director of Business Development at Precision BioLogic talked about the importance of the telephone in his company’s sales process. “It is costly to go and visit prospects,” he said. “Make sure you do your due diligence before the visit with research and by picking up the phone.” Exactly!
Whether your product is one that can be sold on the phone, or one that demands a series of meetings over a long period of time, having excellent telephone skills is essential to your sales success. Take the time, at least once each year, to record yourself on the phone and make sure you are always delivering your very best “phone work”!
Best wishes for a great week. – TPL