callingly, Author at Callingly

New to remote sales? Avoid these mistakes

Posted on August 2, 2020 by callingly

Pandemic has made us realize the importance of working from home. With that said, remote sales teams are increasing and making their way into the mainstream. The sales departments of most businesses are going remote.

Setting up remote sales teams are helping companies and especially sales managers to pick talented people from around the world. Furthermore, it’s benefiting productivity and increasing cash flow.

The trend of remote sales team is on the rise! But as everyone is new to the “remote dimension,” mistakes are also skyrocketing. Although the errors are common, it’s holding back the full potential of a remote team.

Here are some common mistakes that you must avoid if you are new to remote sales.

Forgetting Professionalism

It’s easy to forget professionalism when you’re working remotely. However, it’s great to be friendly with your remote sales team. But at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is the end result! You and your team must sell in order to run the business.

Being too friendly or casual with your team can relax them. And believe me that it can ruin the whole sales operation of your business. Try stressing on professionalism whenever you feel like things are going a little casual.

Don’t go all harsh on your team members. But try maintaining a professional work environment where “sales” are your number one priority. Professionalism in a remote sales work environment can include – attending the meetings, reporting on time, being punctual, and whatnot.

Not Eliminating Distractions

Distractions can play a vital role in drowning your remote sales operations. The barking of Tommy, knocks on the door, and noisy neighbors can easily make you fall in the pit from where it’s hard to come back.

Both managers and team members don’t take distractions seriously. That’s why remote sales teams fail. Do your best to eliminate all the distractions. Forget you’re working from home and turn your room into a workplace.

Lock the door of your room from where you’re working, ask your family members not to disturb you, etc. Make arrangements to eliminate distractions and see your productivity level rise.

Disrespecting Routine of Your Team Members

So you’ve planned a meeting on Monday morning at 9:00 am sharp. But what if some members of your team are living on the opposite side of your time zone? According to us, you’re asking way too much.

Even if everyone is living in the same time zone, we all have different routines. Taking a poll from your team will come in handy to easily handle the situation. Everyone will feel that you, as a manager, respect their routine.

Some managers arrive late to scheduled events or take more time of members than allotted. That’s disrespecting the routine of your team members. Avoid this mistake and see your team investing more than what you have asked for.

Disregarding Socializing

We, humans, are called “social animals” for a reason. Unlike office environments, members of your remote sales teams can’t socialize enough. You, as a manager, need to make arrangements so everyone can socialize.

The consequences of isolation are insane; you must encourage your team to socialize. Set happy hours where everyone gets to share their personal stories, experiences, and more. Plan a movie or game night so that the cycle of socializing doesn’t stop.

Socializing builds trust, improves collaboration skills, and affects mental & physical health. Plant the seed of socializing in your team’s root to see beautiful results!

Picking Wrong Tools

Tech-scene is moving fast!

It’s easy to pick the wrong tools and waste the capital of your company. As a manager, you must keep an eye on software that are beneficial for your remote sales team.

Don’t just buy the tools right away! The world of internet is BIG, look for reviews and guides to learn about the tools you are going to buy. Ask your team members and see if any geek in the circle knows about a better alternative to what you are buying.

As highlighted by Callingly, some essential tools for your remote sales team are Krisp, Slite, and Ambition, and more.

Use multiple perspectives and put them in one place to draw out the conclusion as per your business nature. Look for tools that are user-friendly or have in-depth official guides so that your team members can easily learn them.

Providing Feedback, Come Again?

Know Your Team conducted a survey in which 80 percent of employees wanted more feedback regarding their performance. Lack of feedback can kill the urge of employees to pull out wonders.

As a manager, you must provide honest and genuine feedback to your team members. Even if they aren’t doing great, hand them out some pointers. It will help them to learn from the mistakes and do better in the future.

Feedback is essential, and there’s always a room left for it. Don’t forget about providing feedback to your remote sales team. From suggestions to ideas and pointing out mistakes, your feedback can be anything! Just don’t disregard it.

Poor & Vague Communication

Communication is the key to set-up a great remote sales team. If your organization is lacking communication than it’s time to do something about it. Without proper communication, your team will not be able to perform well.

Take every single person on your team into consideration when you are communicating with them. Take names while assigning tasks and encourage them to ask questions. Don’t scare away your team members by lack of communication. Be there go-to door for asking questions and taking suggestions so that they don’t have to roam around in the assumption loop.

Conclusion

If you don’t repeat the mistakes, you haven’t done any.

And if you have learned from the mistakes of others, you are on the path of success. Startup founders, remote sales professionals, and managers can learn from these common mistakes and avoid regretting later.

Analyze your remote sales team, and one by one, eliminate every mistake you have learned in this piece. Implement the solutions and see your remote sales team fly high!

Setting up a no-code sales CRM with automated lead callback

Posted on July 30, 2020 by callingly

Suppose you needed a use case where you can capture lead information through an online form or survey link, store the details in a CRM, and ensure the lead is reached out to via a phone call as soon as possible from when they demonstrate interest.

We’re going to build this using without a single line of code, and using commonly available inexpensive tools.

If you’re not a reader and would like to watch a video tutorial on this, head here

Alright, let’s dive in!

Typeform will be used to gather lead information. The information is then transferred into a CRM which is built on AirTable and then the lead is called using Callingly.

Setting it up

In this tutorial, we’re essentially going to use four things – Typeform, AirTable, Zapier, and Callingly.

Zapier is going to act as a bridge between Typeform and AirTable, and will pass the information about the leads from TypeForm to the CRM, which in our case is AirTable. The whole process will involve four flows and three zaps.

Flows include: – Capturing information about the leads using Type flow – Send this information to the CRM, which in our case is AitTable – Send the information from the CRM to Callingly to call the lead – Updating AirTable with the status of the call

Zaps:

We will create three separate zaps for this:

The first zap will listen to and capture the lead information from Typeform and passes that onto the CRM. The second Zap is whenever a new lead is added to our AirTable CRM, we want that information to be sent to Callingly. And finally, a third Zap, which will record the updated status of the call – taking information from Callingly back to our CRM.

In this article, we will take you through three easy steps that will automate your sales workflow seamlessly.

So, let’s get started.

Step I: Setting Up Typeform & Integrating It With The CRM

In this section, we’ll learn how to create Typeform and use that information to the CRM database (AirTable).

We will be using three things here. Zapier, Typeform, and, of course, AirTable. We won’t be going into details on how to create an AirTable or Typeform. If you want to know how that works you can check the guide here or click here to learn how to create Zaps.

We’ll start by creating a simple lead capture form on Typeform. To do this, once you’re signed in click on ‘New Type Form’

On the screen that follows, you can either choose ‘start from scratch’ or a useful template to save some time. To explain things better, we’re choosing ‘start from scratch’. Once you click the button you’ll be presented with a popup asking for certain details.

Click continue once you’ve filled in the info.

Next up you’ll have to create boxes for the leads to give in their information. It could be anything like name, email address, phone numbers, and whatnot. Click ‘add your first question’ and then enter the details you want your leads to provide.

In our case, we are going for First Name, Last Name, Email, and their Phone Number.

Once you do that hit ‘Publish’ on the top right of the page.

After hitting publish, you’ll have the URL (a shareable link) that can be used on your website, landing page, or wherever you want to collect the information from.

Now that we’re all set up with Typeform, we need to send the information from our form to AirTable. We will use Zapier to bridge this information. To do this, login to Zapier and click on New Zap. Just type ‘type’ in the box and select ‘Typeform’ from the dropdown.

Click continue. It will now ask us to sign in to Typeform so that our Zap can fetch the information from there. Once you do that, it will ask you to select the form you want the information to be extracted from. Click continue and it will take you to the next step where you could test your Zap.

Click on ‘Test Trigger’ to check your integration.

Sending to AirTable

The next phase is to send the information we have collected to AirTable.

It’s easy!

In the ‘Do This’ box type ‘AirTable’ and select it from the dropdown.

Next, in the ‘Choose Action Box’, select ‘Create Record’ and ‘continue’. At this point, it’s going to ask you to sign in into your AirTable. Unlike TypeForm, the AirTable will ask you to enter an API key. To do this, go to your ‘Account Page’ and create a new API key.

In the account settings page on AirTable, you will see a box for an API key. Click ‘regenerate’ or ‘generate API’. Select the API form the box, copy it and paste it into the Zapier popup.

Once you’ve done this, select the CRM you created on AirTable and click continue. Here you will be asked to select the table and loads of other boxes to fill in the information. Just the ones relevant and hit continue.

Great, so we have set up our Zap, and now is the time to move forward to step II.

Step II – Connecting AirTable To Callingly

What we need is the ability for our CRM leads on AirTable to now transfer to Callingly every time someone fills and submits a form through Typeform. In order to do this, let’s create a new Zap.

In the ‘Choose app and event’ box select AirTable. Select ‘New record’ in the ‘choose trigger event’ box and hit continue.

Select the appropriate tables in the next few boxes and click test to check if everything is exactly the way you want it.

In the Do This box, select callingly from the dropdown and choose an action event, which is our case would be ‘call the lead’

Here, you need to sign in to your callingly account. Make sure you do that from the same browser and allow Zapier access to Callingly.

Next, a screen will pop up allowing you to customize the calling options. Here you can select the team you want the new information to be passed on to, the agent name, email, phone number, and whatnot.

After doing this, you can now Test whether you’re receiving updates on new leads.

Click on Test and Continue and you will have a small pop up on every new lead gathered on Callingly and your Callingly leads section will highlight the new lead.

Step III: Updating The CRM With The Status Of The Call

In this section, we’ll talk about how to update the status in the AirTable with the current status of the call. The way we’re going to do this is by creating a new Zap, which is listening to Callingly whenever the status of the lead is updated. And that status is then updated to that particular lead in AirTable.

So, create a new Zap and in the ‘When this happens’ window, type in and select Callingly. In the ‘Trigger Even’ box, select Lead Updated or Tagged. Hit continue. It will ask you to select the Callingly account and then an option to customize the field. In the updated field box, select ‘Status’.

Hit Continue and then ‘Test Trigger’.

Click on continue and in the ‘Do This’ box that appears select AirTable. This is because we want to update the record in our CRM with the latest call results from the Callingly.

Now, in the ‘choose an action event’ box select File Record and click Continue. Customize the field by selecting the right table and then in the ‘search by’ field, select email. In the ‘search value’ box select the email from the AirTable and hit Continue.

We have found the lead, now we need to update it. To do that, click the ‘+’ icon below ‘Find Record In AirTable’ as shown in the screenshot.

Select AirTable app again, but this time we’re going to select ‘Update Record’ in the Choose Action Field. In the customization window, select the same AirTable Account. In the record field, select Custom, and then click on ID.

Now in the fields that are available, we will scroll down to status and select status. Hit Continue and then Test. You will see that the status in the CRM has changed to Called.

That’s it! You have created a fully functional Sales Automation Process using no-code tools like Zapier.

Curious to see another no-code write up and video like this one? Shoot us a message on live-chat letting us know what you’d like us to build!

How to Manage a Sales Team Remotely

Posted on July 12, 2020 by callingly

Remote work has quickly become the norm over the last few months and, as COVID-19 rages on, it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon.

Have you and other members of your sales team been tasked with working from home? Are you having a hard time helping the folks you manage to stay focused and continue reaching their sales goals each month?

If you’re struggling with managing your remote sales team, keep reading. Listed below are some tips on how you can do your job in the most effective way possible while working from home.

Clarity Is King

When you’re in any kind of leadership role, one of the most important things you can do is to be clear about your expectations. Clarity becomes even more crucial when you’re managing a remote team, though.

Things change when you aren’t able to pop by someone’s desk or call them into your office for a quick chat. It’s easy for information to get lost in translation. As a result, you might find that your team members have more questions or need more details for certain tasks and projects than they did before.

To minimize confusion and help your salespeople adjust to remote work, aim to be as clear as possible about what you expect from them. This includes setting specific goals for the week when it comes to productivity and giving people actionable steps to take to ensure they achieve those goals.

Encourage Communication

You might think you’re being clear, but you could actually be sending conflicting messages or just not expressing something in the best way. To ensure that your instructions and expectations are getting across in the proper way, encourage your salespeople to communicate with you. Let them know that your virtual door is always open and invite them to ask questions if something is unclear or confusing.

When someone comes forward and seeks clarification or has feedback on a particular matter, meet them with (again, virtual) open arms. Welcome their response and do your best not to get defensive. If people don’t feel that they can come to you with questions or concerns, they won’t bother and will try to figure things out themselves or might ignore responsibilities altogether (both of which can lead to less productivity and less profitability over time).

Make Socialization Acceptable

Communication is key when it comes to managing your team. Make sure your team members know, though, that they’re allowed to have non-work-related communication, too.

Even if they’re not working in the same office, folks on your team still need to have a chance to catch up with one another and have some “water cooler” conversation from time to time. This allows them to decompress, refocus their efforts, and be more productive.

Consider creating a Slack channel for these kinds of discussions and encourage team members to use it. You can even pop in there yourself so that people know it’s truly okay for them to chat with their colleagues every once in a while.

Create Structure

A common pain point for people who are working from home for the first time is a lack of structure. When things can be done at any time, they often don’t get done at all.

Because of this, it’s important to implement workflows and work with your team to come up with a schedule or prioritized task list for the day. Even if your salespeople aren’t all on the exact same schedule, they should still have processes to follow and systems in place that help to hold them accountable.

Monitor Time Usage

Another way to encourage accountability and ensure employees are maximizing the workday is to monitor time usage. There are lots of tools you can use, many of which are free, that will help you keep track of the way your sales team members are utilizing their time.

Avoid micromanaging, but monitor people’s time usage to get a general sense of what they’re doing during the day and how productive they’re being. That way, if someone comes to you with a question or concern, you’ll have data that you can reference to work with them on how they can be more effective and efficient.

Use the Cloud

Document-sharing can be a struggle when you’re managing a remote team. It’s too easy for people to forget to attach documents when sending an email, for example, or to send over the wrong file and hold everyone up.

When you use a cloud-based document-sharing tool, everyone is able to access the information they need and search for important data without having to interrupt the rest of the team’s workflow. A cloud-based tool ensures that everyone gets the most up-to-date versions of documents and files, too.

Invest in Sales Automation

In addition to cloud-based software, another great investment you can make to improve your remote sales team’s performance is in sales/lead call back automation tools like Callingly.

Callingly helps to streamline the sales process and ensure that every lead gets reached out to in a timely manner. It frees your salespeople up to focus on other parts of the sales process, but they can still feel confident that they’re not dropping the ball when it comes to converting people from leads to paying customers.

It’s Time to Lead Your Remote Sales Team to Victory

Managing a remote sales team definitely has its challenges, especially if you’ve never worked remotely or managed employees who are working from home before. If you keep these tips in mind, though, it’ll be easier for you to adjust your management style and help your team stay motivated and on track toward achieving their goals.

One of the best steps you can take to help everyone work as efficiently as possible is to invest in lead call back automation. Callingly will streamline the lead call back process and ensure that all of your potential customers get contacted as soon as possible.

Essential Tools Your Remote Sales Team Will Need to Thrive

Posted on June 29, 2020 by callingly

Over the last few months, lots of sales teams have started doing remote work and have quickly found that it can be quite challenging. Are you part of this group? Are you feeling overwhelmed at the idea of making sales while working from home?

Building a killer remote sales team is a great first step. However, you and your team also need to have access to the right tools if you want to succeed long-term.

You’ve heard of (and might even use) options like Slack and Zoom. There are lots of other effective tools you ought to have in your arsenal, though. Read on to learn about some of the best ones that your remote sales team ought to be using.

Common Challenges for Remote Sales Teams

If you’re new to the idea of remote sales, you likely have some questions about the most common challenges you and your team are going to face. Remote work has plenty of benefits, but there are also some potential obstacles to be aware of, including the following:

Keeping team members engaged during training sessions and meetings
Staying productive and avoiding distractions in the home
Staying in touch with team members and monitoring progress from afar
Keeping up with workflows and making sure current and potential clients don’t get ignored or lost in the shuffle

Types of Tools Every Remote Sales Team Needs

These challenges can definitely get in the way of running a successful sales team. With the right tools, though, it’ll be easier to make sure all of your team members are on the same page.

Here are some of the most important types of tech tools to invest in for yourself and your team:

Communication tools: Look for software that helps you and your team to stay connected and communicate back and forth (via chat and video) with ease even though you’re all in different places
Scheduling tools: Schedules might be a little more flexible for remote workers, but they still should have a clear idea of when they’re needed, as well as when meetings and training sessions are being held; scheduling tools can help with this
Productivity tools: Investing in products that can improve your team members’ home offices and at-home work experience will help them stay focused and minimize costly distractions
Workflow automation tools: Tools that automate various parts of the sales process are especially valuable when everyone is working from home; for example, Callingly automates lead call back and ensures every lead gets reached out to in a timely manner

Best Remote Sales Tools

Now, let’s get into some of the best remote sales tools you and your team members might want to start using. Here are some of our top picks:

Vidyard

You don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for great remote sales tools. Vidyard is a totally free Google Chrome browser extension that will make your training sessions much easier.

Vidyard allows you to record your screen and create short, clear videos for your sales reps. When you’re finished recording, you’ll get a link to share with each member of your team so they can all get up to speed. Using Vidyard, you can also track who’s watching your videos to ensure everyone on the team is completing their training.

Krisp

Do members of your sales team complain about their kids making noise or dogs barking while they’re trying to conduct sales calls? Have your own training meetings been disrupted by your cat playing with a toy in the background?

If outside noise is creating distractions and affecting the quality of your team’s work, you might want to start using Krisp. Krisp is an AI-powered noise-canceling app that mutes background noise and creates a more peaceful environment. With Krisp, you can easily remove sounds coming from you or coming from the other end of the call with the push of a button.

Slite

All teams, including remote sales teams, need to be able to collaborate and share ideas. If it’s been harder to brainstorm and come together to address potential problems with the company, Slite can come to the rescue.

Slite creates a place for team members to share ideas in writing and store important documents to reference later. You can use it to keep track of notes, ideas, templates, company documents, and more. Slite provides lots of organization options, too, so it’s easy for everyone to find what they need when they need it.

Ambition

For pretty much every remote sales team, the goal is to close more deals using phone and video calls. If you’re worried about your team members’ ability to do this, or if you just want to light a fire under them and keep them motivated, Ambition is a great product to start using.

Ambition lets you gather all of your team’s sales data into one place for easy analysis. It also offers a gamification platform so you can tap into your team members’ competitive sides.

You can use gamification to maintain engagement and motivation while also rewarding positive behaviors and encouraging team members to beat their personal bests. It’s fun and improves productivity. What more could you want?

Start Using These Remote Sales Tools Today

As you can see, there are lots of great tools out there that you can use to keep your remote sales team on task and set them up for long-term success.

Of all these options, pay special attention to workflow automation and your lead call back software. Your team needs to stay on top of things to succeed, especially when it comes to getting back to potential leads and converting them to paying customers.

Callingly will help you and your team ensure that every lead gets a call back as quickly as possible. It integrates with lots of other remote sales and productivity management tools, and you’ll never have to worry about potential customers falling through the cracks.

6 Strategies for Building a Killer Remote Sales Team

Posted on June 22, 2020 by callingly

In the wake of COVID-19, lots of business owners are switching to a work-from-home model. They’re also hiring remote salespeople to help them build their business while still engaging in good social distancing practices.

Are you having a hard time finding the right salespeople to help you grow your business? Are you a sales manager who’s been tasked with bringing on new remote talent?

If the answer to either of those questions is yes, keep reading. Listed below are six strategies you can implement today that will help you to build an incredible remote sales team.

Be Clear About Your Expectations

When it comes to hiring the right people to be part of your sales team, it’s important to start with a clear description of what the job entails and what you expect from the people who work for you. Setting clear expectations right from the beginning makes it easier for you to weed out people who don’t have a certain amount of experience or who don’t have the personality traits that are necessary to be a great remote salesperson.

You should also clarify expectations when you begin the interview process and start talking to candidates on the phone or via video chat. Remember, the more direct you are about what you’re looking for, the easier it is for you to find someone who meets your team’s specific needs.

Review Resumes with Care

It’s common for hiring managers to only give resumes a cursory glance when looking for new employees. If you want to put together a great remote sales team, though, it will pay off to spend a little more time reviewing resumes for each applicant.

During the resume review process, pay special attention to the applicant’s work history. Are there any big gaps in employment on their resume? On the other end of the spectrum, do they seem like a job-hopper, someone who goes from job to job very quickly?

Neither one of these should be an automatic deal-breaker. It’s important to keep them in mind, though, and address them during the interview. You don’t want to bring someone onto your sales team who won’t be committed to the job and helping your company grow, right?

Conduct a Sales Assessment

Since you’re hiring someone to be part of your sales team, you ought to take the time to see how good they are at selling, right?

A sales assessment that simulates the typical selling experience is a win-win. It will give you a chance to see candidates in action. It also gives them a chance to see what it will be like to be part of your sales team.

During your assessment, find out whether or not the candidate understands how to qualify leads. Do they know the difference between an A, B, and C lead? Do they know the importance of finding leads who have the authority and budget to make a purchase, as well as a plan to actually buy what you’re selling?

A salesperson who lacks this basic knowledge might not be a great fit for your team. They might have a harder time bringing in leads who are likely to become customers, which could affect your bottom line or reflect badly on you as a sales manager.

Review Behavior

Because these members of your sales team are going to be working remotely, it’s essential that they exhibit good work behaviors and have the capacity to get things done while also having a high level of independence.

Talk to candidates about their ability to work independently and stay motivated without having a supervisor breathing down their neck. Ask about times when they’ve worked without supervision and find out how they handle those kinds of situations, too.

The answers they give to these kinds of questions will help you see if they have what it takes to be part of a remote sales team and be productive even when no one’s watching them.

Don’t Underestimate Newcomers

We’ve talked a lot about the importance of experience and sales knowledge. At the same time, though, there are advantages to hiring newcomers who haven’t spent a lot of time in the sales world.

When you bring people onto your sales team who are new to the concept of remote sales but who are eager to learn, you have a chance to mold them into the exact type of remote salesperson that you need. This is why it’s good to look for people who want to grow and who will be receptive to feedback.

Sometimes, this is even more important than hiring someone who has lots of sales experience. After all, if they’re a seasoned salesperson, they might be set in their ways and less willing to make adjustments to their approach to fit your specific business model and method of doing things.

Use the Right Tools

Finally, make sure you’re using the right tools to build and connect with your remote sales team. If you want to get a more genuine sense of how a person handles sales calls and other aspects of their job, it’s best if you can conduct your interview and sales assessment via video. This helps you see their body language and view their approach in a more holistic way.

When it comes to connecting with your team and evaluating their performance once they’ve been hired, be sure to use a good project management software, too. This helps you keep track of the work your sales team is doing, stay in touch with new-hires, and ensures that everyone is on the same page.

Start Build Your Dream Remote Sales Team Today

Have you been feeling daunted at the idea of putting together an effective remote sales team? If so, hopefully, the information outlined above has shown you that it can be done. Keep these six tips in mind and you’ll have no trouble finding great salespeople to help you build your business from afar.

When it comes to improving your remote sales strategy and investing in the right tools, don’t forget about the benefits of automated lead call back, either. Using lead call back technology like Callingly can help you and your sales team get back to leads as quickly as possible and increase your chances of converting them into paying customers.

Contact us today to learn more about Callingly. You can also check out our other blog posts for more tips on running a great sales team.

How to Close More Deals Via Video Calls

Posted on June 13, 2020 by callingly

In response to COVID-19, professionals of all kinds have had to adjust their strategy and change the way they do business. Salespeople, in particular, have had to pivot quite a bit to reach out to prospective clients and close deals while still engaging in proper social distancing practices.

Are you having a hard time with remote sales and selling products or services over a video calling platform? If so, keep reading. Listed below are some tips that will help you level up and close more deals.

Invest in Video Calling Equipment

It seems that remote sales are going to be the norm for quite a while moving forward. Even as businesses start to reopen and social distancing regulations are relaxed, it’s likely that a lot of people will still prefer conducting meetings virtually.

With this in mind, it makes sense to invest in some quality video calling equipment and good video calling software. That way, you can ensure that people can see and hear you well when you’re pitching products or services to them or trying to close a deal. This will show that you take your job seriously and are dedicated to providing potential clients with a good experience even when you can’t talk to them face-to-face.

Always Test Your Equipment

It doesn’t matter how well-reviewed your equipment is if it doesn’t work properly. Always be sure to test everything before your video call begins. That way, if there are any issues with your camera, lighting, or sound, you can address them without taking up your customer’s valuable time.

Making testing your equipment a priority helps you to look more prepared and professional, too. It allows you to go into your video calls with confidence and know that you’ve done everything you can on your end to make sure the call goes smoothly.

Send Important Information Before the Meeting

It’s always a good idea to send over important information before the meeting.

The day before, send the person with whom you’re meeting an email that includes things like details of the product or service your offer or pricing information. That way, they’ll have had a chance to review the basics and you can spend more time answering questions or addressing any concerns they might have.

This allows everyone to use their time in the most valuable way. It also ensures that you both get the most out of the video call.

Create Trust

When you hop on a video call with someone, you’ll likely need to put in some extra effort to build trust and help them to feel comfortable with you. Video calls can feel awkward at first, so you need to work on your strategy for putting customers at ease.

Sharing some information about yourself can be a good way to break the ice and build rapport. Asking them about how they’re doing or what they’ve been up to is helpful, too. This shows that you care about them, are interested in their lives, and aren’t just trying to make a sale as quickly as possible.

Personalize Your Message

Be sure to personalize the information you share during each video call and make it applicable to the person on the other end.

If it feels like you’re just reciting the same generic pitch over and over again, it’ll be harder for the customer to trust you. They might even feel as though you don’t truly value them. This, in turn, can decrease the likelihood that they’ll want to buy what you’re selling.

Sit own and review notes on each customer or client before you begin a video call with them. That way, you can ensure you’re speaking to them in a way that makes sense and best appeals to their needs.

Optimize Your Video Calling Space

Set up your video calling space so that it looks good when you’re on camera. Try to make your calls from a room that gets plenty of natural light, and make sure there isn’t any kind of glare on your screen. Arrange a neutral backdrop as well, and check that there’s nothing behind you that could be distracting to the customer.

Keep Calls Short and Sweet

In general, it’s best if you can keep your video calls short and sweet.

Most people don’t want to spend a long time on a video call, especially when they’re talking to someone they don’t know very well. If you find that you’re having a hard time getting people to hop on the phone with you, the length of your calls could be part of the problem.

Instead of inviting potential customers to join you on a 30-minute call, make it 10 or 15 minutes. This feels more manageable and might be more enticing than blocking off a whole half hour of their day.

End with a Call-to-Action

Always end your video calls with a call-to-action. You’ll have a much easier time closing deals if you give the person on the other end clear next steps to take.

Whether it’s sending over information, filling out a form that you send to them, or scheduling another call to tie up loose ends, always give the customer a job and let them know what you’ll be doing, too. This ensures that they follow through and helps you to actually complete the sale.

Need More Help Closing Deals?

Trying to close deals via video calls can definitely be tricky. If you follow these guidelines, though, you’ll have a much easier time feeling comfortable on these calls and making more sales.

Do you need more help with improving your sales process? What if you automated your lead call back strategy so you could free yourself up to focus more on video sales?

With Callingly, you can arrange for leads to receive a call-back as soon as they fill out a form or take another action on your website. Try it for free today and start enjoying the benefits of sales automation.

How to Sell Successfully From Wherever You Are

Posted on June 8, 2020 by callingly

In the wake of COVID-19, more people are working remotely than ever before. Many companies have also announced that, even as social distancing ordinances are lifted, they plan to continue having employees work from home rather than coming to the office.

With certain jobs, it’s easy to transition to full-time remote work. Remote sales, though, can be tricky.

If you’ve recently started working in this type of position and are worried about your ability to succeed, keep reading. Listed below are some tips that will help you be a successful remote salesperson.

Be Personable

Being friendly and personable is a big part of being successful in the world of sales. This can be harder, though, when you’re not able to meet with people one-on-one.

When selling virtually, you miss out on opportunities to shake hands and enjoy feelings of in-person connection, but there are still ways to be personable from afar. Here are some tips that can help you to better engage with your customers while selling remotely:

Use video calling over phone calls whenever possible (it’s easier to succeed in sales when people can see your face and you can see theirs)
Spend some time on small talk at the beginning of the meeting
Use chat instead of email when possible (this allows for stronger bonds and more informal connections)
Bring up things you discussed in your previous conversations, just like you would if you were meeting in-person

In essence, try to do whatever you can to mimic the feeling of an in-person meeting.

Keep Track of Customers’ Interests and Actions

Tracking technology can help you keep up with your customers and gauge their interest in making a purchase or continuing to work with you. By using tracking technology, you can monitor many of your customers’ and prospective customers’ interests and actions, including the following:

When they open emails
When they click on links within emails
When they visit your website
The specific pages they look at
How long they look at these pages

Tracking software can also provide you with live notifications when potential customers take action. They way, you can choose the appropriate follow-up approaches and close more deals.

Build Relationships with Social Media

Social media is an incredible relationship-building tool. The key is to use if in the proper way, though.

Start by simply making connections online. Send out friend requests on Facebook, follow your customers on Twitter, or ask them to join your LinkedIn network. Think about your industry and the type of clients with whom you work, then decide which platform is the best fit.

Once you’ve made a connection, you can start a conversation. Don’t dive straight into a sales pitch! Ask them how they’re doing after your recent meeting or follow-up on something you discussed at that time. Show them that you care and remember talking to them.

Make your social media profiles helpful places, too. One way you can do this is by sharing articles or posts on your feed that might be of use to your clients.

Provide Clear Next Steps

It’s easy for things to feel a little vague when you’re holding meetings virtually. To ensure that your clients (or prospective clients) know what to do after they’ve talked to you, be sure to end with clear steps for everyone to take.

An example might include something like scheduling a date and time for a future meeting or making a plan for them to gather certain documents so you can review them together. Give yourself and the client something to do so you both can keep moving toward closing the sale.

Set Daily Goals

When you’re working remotely, if you’re not careful, the day can get away from you pretty quickly. One minute you’re trying to set up your office so that it has the perfect lighting for video calls and, the next, the sun has set and it’s time for dinner.

To ensure you’re maximizing your time and being as productive as possible while selling remotely, set daily goals for yourself. You could make a plan to contact a certain number of prospective clients per day, for example.

Use the Right Tools

In addition to tracking tools, there’s a lot of other great technologies that you can use to set yourself up for remote sales success. The following are some of the best tools you can invest in today:

Video Conferencing Software

Remember, video calls are a must for remote salespeople. They encourage deeper connections and make sales meetings feel more personal.

Invest in a high-quality video calling or conferencing software such as Zoom so you can connect with current and potential clients and have productive meetings from afar.

Electronic Document Signing Software

Electronic document signing allows you to close deals even when you’re not able to meet with people in-person. Look for a software that helps you to send over contracts to prospective customers or clients and obtain electronic signatures with ease. We love DocuSign here at Callingly.

Automated Lead Calling Tools

If you’re not getting back to prospective clients as soon as possible, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on an opportunity to convert them to paying customers. Don’t miss out on potential sales because your lead response process is too slow!

Automated lead callback tools like Callingly (shameless plug!) make it easy for you to respond as soon as someone takes a specific action (like filling out a form on your website). The faster you can contact them, the more likely you are to close the deal.

Master Remote Sales Today

The idea of working as a remote salesperson might feel intimidating at first. If you remember the tips outlined above, though, you’ll have an easier time fitting into your new role and selling successfully from wherever you are.

Of all the tips mentioned in this blog, pay special attention to our last tip about using the right tools. Automating certain aspects of the sales process, including lead call back, with tools like Callingly will help you streamline your approach, be more productive, and see better results from your sales efforts.

Five Key Areas Your Business Should Automate

Posted on June 1, 2020 by callingly

As a business owner, you have to perform many different jobs every day to keep your company afloat. If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed or feel that your business isn’t performing as well as you’d like, automating certain areas can be helpful.

Read on to learn more about the benefits of automation for businesses. You’ll also learn about five key areas of your business that you should automate as soon as possible.

Why Automate?

Are you on the fence about automation? If so, learning more about the benefits it has to offer might help you to change your mind.

The following are some of the greatest advantages business owners and their teams experience when they automate certain processes:

Increased productivity
Improved communication
Reduced costs
Increased efficiency
Improved work quality
Better time and task management
Improved customer satisfaction

Do any of those sound appealing to you?

Top Five Areas to Automate

Remember, you don’t have to overhaul everything all at once. If you want to automate parts of your business but aren’t sure where to begin, consider starting with these five areas:

1. Sales

Sales automation is one of the most beneficial forms of automation you can implement in your business. There are many aspects of your sales process you can automate, including the following:

Sales Pipeline

Successful sales start with a well-defined sales pipeline. Sales automation software can make it easier for you to map out the customer’s journey and define different aspects of the sales process. This then makes it easier for reps to keep track of where people are and continue moving them through the pipeline.

Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing is essential if you want to eventually convert someone from a lead to a paying customer. It can be time-consuming, though, which is why automation is so helpful. One of the most effective ways to automate this part of the sales process is by using software to send emails or resources that gently nudge a person toward making a purchase.

Lead Call Back Software

Don’t forget about the importance of prompt lead call back, either.

The sooner you contact someone after they’ve submitted their information, the more likely they are to eventually become a paying customer. When you use an automated lead call back system like Callingly, you can boost your response times and your closing rates.

Callingly integrates with more than 1,000 different apps through Zapier, a powerful tool that links apps and automates workflows without any additional coding. You can use it alongside other automation tools to keep your business running smoothly.

2. eCommerce

When you use automation software to streamline the eCommerce side of your business, you can keep your customers engaged and encourage them to shop with you again. One way to introduce automation into your eCommerce processes is by automating prompts for future sales.

Instead of waiting for your customers to realize they need to restock on a particular item, use software to send them emails at regular intervals reminding them to make another purchase. For example, if someone bought a 30-day supply of a product, you could set up an email to automatically be sent a week or so before they’re expected to run out encouraging them to buy more.

3. Customer Service

There are plenty of ways to incorporate automation into the customer service area of your business, too.

For example, you could include a “Contact Us” link in all of your emails to customers. That way, people have direct access to you if they need help and don’t have to do extra research to find your phone number or access your chat line.

With the right automation software, you can make sure that someone on your team gets notified as soon as a customer clicks the “Contact Us” button. From there, they can follow up right away and provide them with assistance as soon as possible.

4. Office Management

Many office management tasks can be handled more efficiently with the help of automation software. For example, you might want to think about automating scheduling or task management processes.

This can help you keep track of your employees and make sure everyone knows where they need to be and what they need to be working on. You can do this without having to hold as many meetings or send out as many emails.

As a result of automation, team members will be able to get down to business sooner. You’ll also have more time to dedicate to other, more important tasks.

5. Human Resources

Every day, human resource managers have to handle a variety of tasks, many of which could be carried out more efficiently if they were automated.

For example, using software to automate things like time-off requests and leave approvals can save a ton of time and simplify life for everyone. If people can request time off without having to fill out a bunch of paperwork or talk to several other people before they get approval, everyone gets to spend more time focusing on their work and will be able to get more done throughout the day.

Start Automating Today

Now that you know more about the advantages that come with incorporating automation into your business, as well as the specific areas that can benefit the most from automation, what are you waiting for? It’s time to streamline these processes so you and your team can work more effectively, better serve your clients and customers, and grow your business.

Of all the areas listed above that can benefit from automation, lead response is one of the most important to focus on. By investing in automated lead response for your business, you can ensure you’re getting back to potential customers or clients as quickly as possible before they have a chance to reach out to one of your competitors.

To start automating your lead response process, check out Callingly today. Callingly makes sure that every lead gets a callback within seconds, tracks all of your results, and always keeps your CRM up to date.

6 Lead Capture Tools You Should Be Using in 2020

Posted on May 25, 2020 by callingly

According to 61 percent of marketers, lead generation is one of their top challenges. Does this sound familiar? Are you having a hard time sealing the deal and capturing leads?

If this is the case for you, we’re here to help. Read on to learn about six awesome lead capture tools you should be using in 2020 to help your business grow.

What Is Lead Capture?

There’s a lot of confusion out there about the difference between lead generation and lead capture. Some people assume that they’re one and the same, but that’s not actually true. Lead capture is a part — the final part, to be specific — of the lead generation process.

Lead generation is all about bringing traffic to your website and converting visitors into leads, with the ultimate goal of converting those leads into paying customers. You capture a lead when they take some kind of action, such as filling out an online form, calling you, or contact you via chat.

Top 8 Lead Capture Tools

Now that you know more about what lead capture is and its importance, let’s get down to business. The following are some of the best lead capture tools you ought to start using to run your company more smoothly and help it grow:

1. Leadformly

For many businesses, lead capture is most easily accomplished via an online form. To improve your lead capture system, though, you need to have the right kind of forms on your website.

Leadformly helps you to optimize your forms to increase your conversion rates and overall marketing performance. It uses conditional logic to segment leads and provides you with helpful analytics so you can evaluate your forms’ performance and make changes as needed.

Pricing for Leadformly starts at $30 per month after a 14-day free trial.

2. Optinmonster

Another useful lead capture tool to consider is Optinmonster. Optinmonster helps you to create popups that give people a chance to sign up for your email list or connect with your business in some way.

One of the most popular ways to use these popups is as exit-intent popups, which show up when a user is about to leaves page. This can be less intrusive than other types of popups, but it still gives you an opportunity to capture a lead before they click away.

Pricing for Optinmonster starts at $19 per month.

3. Unbounce

For those who need help creating landing pages for lead generation and lead capture, Unbounce is a very helpful tool.

Unbounce is one of the most popular options for landing page design and offers a variety of features that you can use to create eye-catching pages and forms that are easy to fill out. It allows for A/B testing and provides you with helpful analytics, too.

Pricing for Unbounce starts at $79 per month.

4. Turnstile

Turnstile allows you to create forms that potential leads can fill out in response to a video shown on your website. You can set the form to show up at the beginning of the video, during the middle, or at the end. If you present someone with a form after they’ve already started engaging with your website, they’ll be more inclined to fill it out and become a lead (and potential customer).

Pricing for Turnstile starts at $99 per month. There is also a free version available.

5. Hello Bar

Hello Bar is a narrow horizontal bar that sits at the top of your webpages. It invites people to join your email list in a more discrete way than things like popups, slide-ins. It’s also always present, too, which increases the likelihood that people will actually input their information without feeling like they’re being forced to do so.

There is a free version of Hello Bar available. Paid options start at $29 per month.

6. Gravity Forms

Gravity Forms is another good choice if you need help with online form creation. It helps you create useful online forms, and you can also utilize it for survey creation, guest-post submission, and user-generated content (reviews, recipes, etc.).

Pricing for Gravity Forms starts at $59 per year.

Put These Lead Capture Tools to the Test Today

As you can see, there are lots of different tools you can use to capture leads and convert them into paying customers.

If you need help reaching out to your leads as soon as they fill out your online form or take another action after visiting your website, Callingly is the perfect tool for you. Callingly is a software that helps you to automate the lead call back process.

When you install Callingly, you can reach out to people immediately, before they have a chance to connect with any of your competitors. This increases your likelihood of converting leads and allows you to make more sales.

Callingly has over 1000 integrations through Zapier, too, so it’s easy to use it alongside all your other favorite tools.

7 Real Estate Marketing Tools to Generate Leads Consistently

Posted on May 14, 2020 by callingly

A good lead generation system is essential for any real estate agent who wants to run a successful business and have a steady stream of clients. These days, luckily, there are lots of different marketing tools you can use to generate leads on a consistent basis.

Listed below are eight of the best options you might want to consider. These tools can help you run your business more smoothly, bring in more clients, and make more sales.

1. ShortStack

ShortStack helps real estate agents (and other users) to create landing pages that are enticing and generate more leads for their businesses. It allows you to create contact forms that you can add to your landing pages, too, so people can easily leave their information to learn more about what you have to offer.

All of ShortStack’s forms and landing pages are mobile responsive and easy to create even without a design background. This tool provides you with tons of options so you can create unique content in no time.

2. HomeSpotter

HomeSpotter is another useful tool that makes it easy for you to create stronger relationships with your real estate leads. It features three helpful products:

Boost: This product automates social media and online advertisements
Spacio: This product allows you to promote current offers and features an email and follow-up system
Connect: This product gives you access to customer data and allows you to stay in touch with leads more easily

HomeSpotter is a good all-in-one tool that many real estate agents swear by. Hundreds of thousands of people in the industry rely on it to help them run their businesses.

3. BombBomb

In general, people are much more likely to engage with marketing emails that include a video than ones that contain just text and pictures. BombBomb helps you create real estate marketing email videos that catch people’s attention and get them interested in working with you now or in the future.

In addition to helping you create email videos, BombBomb also offers useful tracking, scheduling, and reminder features. You can use it to set up automated responses to emails, too.

4. Callingly

It’s not enough just to generate leads. You also need to make sure you’re nurturing the leads you already have. Otherwise, you’ll struggle to make sales and close deals. This is where Callingly comes in. Yes, shameless plug, but really our customers have gotten a ton of value from using Callingly.

Callingly is an automated lead response tool. It helps you ensure that every one of your leads receives a call within seconds of them expressing an interest in your business. It tracks all of your results as well and ensures your CRM is always up to date, making it a great option for real estate agents who are working remotely and want to keep everyone at the office in the loop.

Callingly integrates with several other marketing and project management tools, including Hubspot, Zapier, and Salesforce. You can try it for free (no credit card required), too, to see if it’s a good fit for you before investing.

5. ParkBench

A big part of consistent lead generation is staying informed about the latest news in your industry. As a real estate agent, you need to know what kinds of challenges home buyers and sellers are facing so that you can address them appropriately and provide value.

ParkBench helps you do this by making it easy to stay in the loop when it comes to real estate news. You can also use the ParkBench newsletter to promote your real estate business and get in front of more people who might potentially be looking to buy or sell a house.

6. BoldLeads

BoldLeads is a lead generation tool that helps you use Facebook advertising and PPC (pay-per-click) Google Ads to target home buyers and sellers. This software makes it easy for you to track the progress of specific ads, nurture leads, and stay in touch with buyers and sellers. It offers exclusivity, too, as it only services one agent per zip code.

BoldLeads provides lots of training for new agents as well. If you’re feeling a little lost when it comes to lead generation and nurturing, you can tune in to weekly webinars and trainings to hone your skills and improve as an agent.

7. BoomTown

BoomTown is another helpful lead generation tool that you might want to utilize to keep your real estate business growing.

BoomTown uses social media ads and PPC ads to generate leads and collect enhanced data to help you learn more about your potential clients. With this information, you can fine-tune your lead response and lead nurturing system to ensure you’re meeting people’s needs and making legitimate connections with them.

Like BoldLeads, BoomTown offers lots of training options, too. There are tons of training videos available through the platform, along with podcasts for on-the-go learning.

Try These Real Estate Marketing Tools Today

As you can see, there are lots of tools you can use to generate leads and put together an automated lead response system that works for your business.

Of all the tools outlined above, one of the most valuable for any real estate business is Callingly. Callingly helps you handle lead callbacks with ease and ensures that no potential clients get overlooked. It’s the ultimate lead generation and nurturing tool that streamlines your business and frees you up to focus on other important matters.