Category: Sales

Expanding your sales department comes with certain sets of risks. If you do it at the right time, there’s no better way to expand your business growth. However, expanding the sales department done at the wrong time can overstretch your company or hurt its reputation.

Sales department expansion impacts a ton of areas that decide your company’s success or failure. That’s why you must avoid the following mistakes when expanding your sales department.

Mistake #1: Only Going with Your Gut When Hiring

Every company has a different approach when hiring a new member of their sales department. With so many impacts associated with a salesperson, you can’t just go with your gut and hire someone based on a feeling. Instead, you must craft an approach that accounts for specific skills, attributes, and metrics that will best suit the role.

Use your head when hiring salespeople. Even further, take emotions completely out of it. Establish uniform criteria according to your company’s culture and role expectations, and then hire people who fit them for the expansion of your sales department.

Mistake #2: Misallocating/Overpopulating Staff

Expanding your sales department can be an exciting process, but during this period, don’t misallocate or overpopulate the staff.

Before you hire a person or even post a job, take a close look at the existing people in your sales department. Create a report for your sales reps and analyze their performance. If they all are doing well, there’s no need to look for replacements or add more staff when they’re not needed.

To avoid the risk of overpopulating or misallocating staff, keep three things in mind: workload, existing people, and potential. This way, you’ll correctly be able to predict the number of people you need in your sales department.

Mistake #3: Hiring Just to Complete the Headcount

Hiring just to complete the headcount is often known as desperate hiring. No matter how vital it is for your sales department to expand, never settle for desperate hiring. Even if you have received the budget, posted jobs, and narrowed down the applicants, don’t hire just to complete the headcount.

If you aren’t completely sold on an applicant, look for another. For instance, it’s okay to pass on a sales rep who doesn’t have the experience you require for a more senior sales rep position.

It’s true that not hiring during the vital need of expansion can hurt your organization in the short run. But settling for an sub-par applicant can negatively impact your company’s performance.

Mistake #4: Poor Salary Plans

Sure, a good environment and promising values & traditions of a company attract a person, but that’s not all. One of the most powerful things that fascinate a talented salesperson is a good salary package along with other incentives.

Don’t set-up poor salary plans for the salespeople you are looking forward to hiring for your company’s sales sector expansion. As a matter of fact, lure in the top sales talent by crafting handsome salary plans with exciting incentives and additional benefits.

Last and certainly not least, create the salary packages in a way that the salespeople can easily calculate how much they can earn.

Mistake #5: Not Concentrating on Proper Staff Training

How can you expect the new salespeople to work wonders if you don’t devote time to their training program?

It’s easy to hire and expand your sales department, but what’s more difficult is creating a uniform training program that properly trains the new hires and keeps mor tenured salespeople growing their skills.

To expand your sales department and yield the right results from it, create an in-depth training program for the new hires.

Make sure that every new hire attends the program and passes it with good results. Don’t settle for the average passing result as setting the bar high of the training program will only benefit your company in the future.

Mistake #6: Ignoring Existing Salespeople

Expanding isn’t the only option to make your sales department more fruitful. Most companies expand their sales department to yield better results rather than training their existing salespeople.

Don’t ignore your existing salespeople. Train them to tune their efficiency and keep them motivated. It’s quite possible that once they are all polished, you’ll barely need to expand your sales department much at all.

Create a special training plan for your existing salespeople. Maybe hire some professionals from the outside to train your sales department in certain areas like leadership, new communication skills, and data analysis.

Lastly, training your existing salespeople rather than abruptly expanding your sales department builds a more loyal team and can increase their commitment to the role over time.

Mistake #7: Polluting Roles

It’s easy to overlook certain roles and to pollute others when you are expanding your sales department. Pollution means expanding the scope of someone’s work to include things that aren’t part of their job.

Polluting a role makes that role inefficient. For instance, if you haven’t hired a sales administrator and instead put those responsibilities onto sales reps, their role is polluted. It will make the sales reps waste their time doing other tasks rather than selling.

Don’t pollute the roles and keep a balance between certain roles so that everyone can efficiently work and provide good results.

Alternatively, make sure you aren’t diluting the roles. For instance, if your sales reps aren’t reaching a certain target, don’t just hire more reps to achieve the goal. Instead, replace or train them before adding to the headcount.

Mistake #8: Over-Hiring Talented People

This is where many companies stumble – over-hiring talented people. Yes, hiring talented people is essential for good results of the newly expanded sales department. However, over-hiring talented people can turn out to be a stumbling block.

Most companies are overwhelmed by the idea of talented people running their sales new department, and they don’t realize they are over-hiring.

Over-hiring not only burdens the hiring budget but also makes things more complicated than they need to be. As too many cooks spoil the broth, the same goes for over-hiring talented people when expanding the sales department. Focus on the number of roles you need to fill, then choose the best candidates for those roles. Just because there are other strong candidates out there doesn’t mean you need to snatch them up.

Final Words

Don’t make these mistakes when you are looking forward to expanding the sales depart of your company. One decision that’s never a mistake is using the Callingly Lead Response Management system. Callingly helps sales teams respond faster and close more sales the right way. With additional features like reporting, analytics, call recording, and lead routing, Callingly eliminates the risk of all the common mistakes in the sales process.

According to ACFE, a typical organization loses 5 percent of its annual revenue because of fraudulent activities. To meet the expectations of investors or management targets, sales teams are often caught pulling off fraud or misrepresenting their results. As a leader, you don’t want to be blind to the deception your sales team can execute.

Today, we’re going to run down the most common sales team frauds and how you can prevent them. Let’s get started!

Creating Fake Invoices

Some sales teams often create fake invoices to boost sales. Those fake invoices show that the sales team is doing better than it is. However, the fake invoices pile up and create a devastating effect on the company’s overall sales performance.

One of the sneaky ways some sales teams pull off this fraud is by creating lower-value fake invoices. Since smaller invoices are less likely to be audited, it allows the culprit (sales team) get away with the act most of the time.

To tie up the ends, some sales teams also create other fake documents to prove that those invoices are genuine.

Fix:

Verify the purchase directly from the customer and create an independent confirmation system for the proof of purchase.

Don’t let the sales reps and sales managers get away with simply reporting the number of sales. In fact, proof-of-purchase documents should be required on file for every sale.

Misclassifying Sales

For making up the sales targets, many sales teams misclassify sales. Sales teams include income like investment income as a part of the sale to boost the numbers. This only acts as a one-time gain and destroys the company’s operations in the long run.

It’s simple to confuse the other revenue options with sales. That’s why many sales teams do it so that they don’t have to answer for their shortcomings.

Sales reps and even some sales managers can be leading this fraud in your company. Here’s how you can prevent it and stop your company from bearing more losses.

Fix:

Get your sales team to draft a detailed report on their sales. From total revenue generated to the number of goods/services sold, everything should match up with what’s in the sales revenue account of your company.

Round Tripping

Round tripping refers to your sales team selling certain goods or services to another party and promising to buy back from them at a later date. This act generates revenue in the short term but negatively affects the company in the long run.

This back and forth of shifting the goods or services is often pulled off by the sales teams to offset substandard performance. In reality, round-tripping hurts the company and creates only a temporary boost in revenue.

Sales teams use advanced round-tripping techniques to ensure their higher-ups stay unaware of their fraudulent activity. Here’s how you can prevent round-tripping in your company.

Fix:

Nobody pays a commission on fake sales; make sure that all the sales presented to you are linked to a commission. Spot the sales with no commission and ask questions to the sales managers about who’s behind this activity. If your business is on a smaller scale, close the deal yourself.

Dialing Fake Leads

Sales reps get a commission on turning a lead into a customer. In the pursuit of increased commission, some sales reps call fake leads and label them as customers. In reality, they are just turning your company’s sales department into a fraudulent one.

It isn’t hard to dial fake leads and create a fake report about how you are turning them into potential clients. For an experienced sales rep, it’s child’s play. Especially in a manual sales environment.

Here’s how you can get rid of this fraudulent activity and make sure that your sales department is helping your company generate revenue.

Fix:

Use a Lead Response Management tool that automates your sales sector. With an LRM system, your sales reps will automatically get calls from genuine leads. They’ll automatically interact with them rather than manually handling the sales operation.

LRM tools also record the call of your sales reps so that you can revisit and analyze them later to spot any lacking.

Not Recording Discounts & Offers

This trend is seen in a majority of sales teams that they delay the recording of discounts and offers. Sales teams bill the customers at the full price and then redeem the offer or discount only when tracking cash received from the customers.

This fraud by sales teams creates a temporary boost in sales figures, but in reality the extra amount is being laundered. With mutual bonding and agreement inside the sales team, the extra amount is distributed amongst the culprits.

Finally, when it comes time to audit the revenue of the company, auditors can easily spot this pattern and pin blame on the person in charge of the company.

Fix:

To catch this fraud, you can create a bridge between the finance and sales sector of your company. Install an accountant to looking over sales with respect to ongoing discounts and offers. Ask the accountant to keep a strict eye over what’s being reported by the sales team and what’s actually been depositing in the accounts of the company.

Closing Bad Deals

Just like we previously mentioned, some sales reps are all about closing deals, regardless of the type of deal.

These sales reps close deals that shouldn’t be closed. They just take the information from the customers and somehow close the deal without even keeping in mind the main goals of the company.

It hurts the company’s reputation, values, and traditions. Moreover, it also negatively impacts the overall report of the sales sector.

Fix:

Keep an eye on your sales reps; they are the face of your company. You can do so by listening in and analyzing their calls. Although it’s not possible in a traditional sales environment, you can integrate a Lead Response Management system that offers immediate solutions.

Final Words

At Callingly, we help the companies to prevent sales team fraud. Callingly is a Lead Response Management tool that automates the lead call back process and provides powerful analytics on how your sales team is performing.

The sales world is complicated. It is nuanced with various layers of procedure and technicalities. However, once you master it, there is no stopping you. And the sales moguls on this list have done it. They have claimed their thrones, and now they can help you do the same.

These Twitter accounts are outlets for these formidable sales leaders and often map their journey to success. So while you won’t be meeting them in person, you will gain valuable and exclusive insights.

For example, sales leaders can use their experience and tell you how to improve your sales funnel. Additionally, they can introduce you to companies that can help you transform your sales performance.

The specific information they provide depends on their specialty. And while it is good to stick to your niche, diversifying your interests can help you become a sales all-rounder. The following salespeople are the best at their job, and following their Twitter accounts will help you become a better salesperson.

1.   Jill Konrath @jillkonrath

With over 44,000 followers, Jill Konrath is the first sales mogul you need to follow on Twitter. She excels in B2B marketing strategies, and her feed is full of helping exercises for your sales team. Additionally, Jill also posts sales-related studies from reputable universities like Harvard to help you keep up with the latest research.

As for her expertise, Jill has written three bestselling books and a popular sales blog. Both ventures have helped her secure her place in the sales world as a force to be reckoned with. So if you choose to follow her, you will establish a connection with one of the best sales acceleration strategists and gain access to exclusive influencer interviews.

2.   Gary Vaynerchuk @garyvee

Known as Gary Vee, this entrepreneur built his brand by investing early in successful businesses like Uber, Twitter, and Snapchat. Then he hustled to use this success and turn it into an empire. Now, he helps other salespeople achieve the same. Following Gary’s Twitter account is the best way to help him help you get there.

Sales can be a tough business and it’s easy to let the stress wear you out. If you find yourself in such situations, follow Gary. He will motivate you through various means, such as giving advice, posting blogs, and sharing quotes. Each is carefully picked to help salespeople excel at their jobs.

3.   Trish Bertuzzi @bridgegroupinc

Trish Bertuzzi wrote the gospel for outbound sales, and her book ‘The Sales Development Playbook’ was widely acclaimed as a must-read for salespeople. Given this positive reception, Trish continued on the advice-giving road, and her Twitter account now hosts multiple pieces of guidance for salespeople.

There are many valuable articles and blogs that can serve as the starting point for your research. Additionally, Trish posts advice based on her own experience as the Bridge Group Incorporation chief strategist. This particular content makes her account stand out on this list.

4.   Jeffrey Gitomer @gitomer

Jeffrey is a reputable speaker, sales coach, and has published twelve books. Two of these publications received particular acclaim in the sales world: ‘Sales Bible’ and ‘Little Red Book of Selling.’ If you have heard of them or read them and enjoyed the content, you need to follow Jeffrey’s account.

Unlike a lot of other people on this list, Jeffrey doesn’t just share information. He writes original content and posts articles regularly. Alongside these pieces, you’ll find a wide range of motivational quotes and updates on his book tours, etc.

But the most important reason why we put Jeff on this list is his manner. He is honest, and his advice is useful. You won’t find meaningless quotes or articles filled with fluff words. Instead, you’ll find candid, helpful content.

5.   David Hoffeld @DavidHoffeld

As a science-based sales trainer, David provides a unique perspective to sales. Instead of the typical trial and error method employed by salespeople worldwide, David takes steps backed by science. And this always makes his measures successful.

His Twitter account is a window into his genius. You can view his YouTube channel if interested; however, the Twitter account alone packs a punch.

Being a chief executive officer, he has hands-on experience with many aspects of the sales world. And this reflects in his active role as a keynote speaker at sales events where he talks about sales behavioral strategies.

6.   Lori Richardson @scoremoresales

The CEO of Score More Sales, Lori, excels in sales training. Her job requires her to motivates salespeople and help them achieve their potential. This puts her in a unique position to help you. Also, she enjoys assisting other salespeople, and her Twitter account radiates this passion.

She posts a lot of content. From original blogs to vital sales updates and articles for valuable sources, Lori’s Twitter account is a treasure trove. She will help you with everything from getting out of sales ruts to reshaping your leadership strategies. As a salesperson, you need to follow her.

7.   Anthony Iannarino @iannarino

As an international speaker, Anthony is well acquainted with different sales models and their importance. His publications: the book ‘The Only Sales Guide You’ll Ever Need’ and the blog ‘The Sales Blog,’ provide comprehensive advice to salespeople and establish his credibility.

Anthony has the expertise required to help you. But what does he post on his Twitter page? If you follow him, you’ll get a range of sourced blogs and writing pieces on topics like closing deals and leadership in sales. Plus, following his account is a great way to receive updates for content on his blog.

Conclusion

Following these sales accounts helps you get a foot into the world of leaders like Lori and David. Each one of the people on this list is an exceptional sales leader with enormous amounts of experience and credibility. Put that alongside their genuine desire to impart knowledge, and you create the ideal informational Twitter account.

As a salesperson, you should follow the accounts on the list because you’ll be getting great content. More often than not, the number of followers of a sales leader determines their position on top-rated lists. However, the content is a more important factor and was used to put this one together.

Customer service is no easy task. When you’re navigating the field of human emotions, you need to be very careful about not just what you say but how you say it. And there are certain statements that no salesperson should ever make while speaking to a customer.

1. You’re wrong

Any variation of telling the customer that they are wrong, misinformed, or don’t know what they’re saying is a major no-no. As the salesperson, it is your job to convince the customer to trust your expertise. However, at no point can you haggle, coerce, or force them into making a purchase.

And if you have to do that, you are not only doing your job wrong; you’re stepping into dangerous moral territory. No matter how much you disagree with the client, you can only make suggestions. The ultimate decision is theirs because it’s their money. The best you can do is try and come up with creative solutions.

2. Sorry, you caught me off guard

If you are a salesperson, you know there are times when you’re not prepared to take a call. Maybe you’re on your lunch break, or you didn’t have time to look into the details the day before. No matter your reason, there is no justification for telling the customer you are unprepared. A friendly suggestion: don’t even joke about it.

As a salesperson, it is your job to come across as confident and knowledgeable at all times. If the client doesn’t think you’re committed to their account, they won’t trust you with their money. Sometimes salespeople develop a natural rapport with customers and forget to maintain the level of professionalism needed.

Remember that ease of conversation is for the client and is no excuse to be off your game. If you aren’t prepared, redirect and reschedule. And if you think you can get away with speaking off the top of your head, present with your most confident foot forward.

3. I need this

All salespeople have targets to meet. Every deal is important, and if it’s the end of a quarter closing the deal can have a significant impact on your income and bonuses. But this is no excuse to ever let the customer know you’re desperate. Firstly, it isn’t their problem. The client isn’t responsible for your sales rate, and it’s unfair of you to push that onto them. In most cases, they won’t care.

Secondly, you will lose their trust. Once they know you have ulterior motives, they won’t trust your advice. As a salesperson, the client needs to know you have their best interests at heart. Now you’re at a disadvantage where your comment may have lowered your chances of making a sale.

And finally, you’ve given the customer the upper hand in all further negotiations. They may even take it as an opportunity to backtrack on all the progress you’ve made in the previous weeks.

4. Touching base

If there’s one overused phrase in the sales world, it is “just touching base.” Another similar statement is, “I’m just checking in.” No customer wants to hear this because it means you’re wasting their time for no reason. Every call needs to have a solid reason that makes your client feel like you’re working tirelessly to get them what they need.

So make sure you start the call by laying out the purpose first with statements like “I want to follow up on our last conversation with…” or “Here are a few solutions I’ve come up with based on the questions you had.” At no point should a customer feel like your communication with them, whether a meeting or a phone call, is just you checking a task off a list. Even if it is a part of your sales process, it should never appear that way. So try and avoid this phrase at all costs.

5. Can I have a few minutes of your time?

Here is another overused phrase that immediately puts customers off. As soon as you utter these words, the prospective customer becomes defensive. They’re on guard because they’re expecting a practiced, impersonal sales pitch. And unless your initial pitch has game-changing material, you’re starting on a negative note.

6. Can you tell me a little about your company?

An equally terrible start, this question makes you appear incompetent right out the gate. As a salesperson, it is your job to do the groundwork before you contact the client. No one wants to hear a generic sales pitch. And without research, that’s all you have, recycled jargon. Sites like Callingly can help you organize leads and manage calls.

A solid approach to a potential client is with a statement like “Our firm assists companies like yours with XYZ, and I have a few questions that will help me identify whether we are the right fit for you.” Here you’ve led with your strongest qualities, show that you’ve done your research, and made your pitch personalized.

7. Do you make the decisions?

Never ask your contact whether they have the ultimate decision-making authority. Now you’ve put them in an awkward spot. Clients can’t give you insight into company business. If they don’t have the authority to approve sales, you’ve burned your only bridge. Instead, ask who weighs into decisions like this and whether you should schedule a meeting with the entire team.

8. Is this within your budget?

Ideally, your research should give you a fair idea of what a client can afford. So this question makes you sound uninformed. Additionally, you risk offending a potential client by assuming they are hitting above their weight. In the sales business, you never want to go in blind. Cover all your bases before you go in and don’t rely on the client to give you new information.

9. I hear that often

No customer wants to feel like their problems are the same as everyone else’s. If you make your client feel like they’re one of many on a roster, you’ve failed at your job. Customers need to feel like their problems are unique. If you’re looking to inspire confidence, you can always tell them that you’ve helped people in similar circumstances and have a lot of ideas on how to turn things around.

10. I’ll email you the information

That email is going straight into the spam folder and will never see the light of day. Giving examples, telling stories, and relaying information in a personal and engaging manner is the only way to make a sale.

Do you want to improve your sales team’s customer service skills but aren’t sure how? Because if so, don’t worry. We work with sales teams who are facing the same problem as you, and over the years, we’ve helped them overcome this obstacle. Today, we’re going to do the same for you.

Customer service skills are crucial to any business’s success. It doesn’t matter what industry you work in; if the sales team can’t engage customers, you won’t make a profit. And at the end of the day, revenue is vital. But how do you reach these goals?

Firstly, have an outstanding product. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, have the best customer service team you can put together. Having one is vital to your success because people only buy products from a company they feel welcome at. The market is super competitive, and if your clients don’t have a good experience, they can leave and go somewhere else.

Therefore, optimizing your clients’ experience is essential. Listen to their concerns and create an environment where they feel important. If you can do this, you’ll create a loyal customer base, and sales will go through the roof.

But how do you create such an environment? First, understand what skills are required, and second, integrate them into your workplace.

The basic customer service skills

The first idea is straightforward. If you want to improve your sales team’s customer service skills, you need to identify them. We’ve put together a list of the most important ones. Each is integral to the process, and you should try to include all of them in your workplace.

• Empathy

Your sales team needs to have empathy and patience. It’s unlikely that all customers will be understanding and compassionate. Therefore, the responsibility falls on the sales reps. Whether the client has a hundred questions or is quickly agitated, your sales team must know how to handle them.

The easiest way to build empathy is by having workshops where you run various scenarios and clients in order to practice. Subsequently, also talk about how best to deal with them in a cool, calm manner.

• Modification

Another essential customer service skill is modification. Sales pitches are crucial and shouldn’t be looked over. However, your team should be able to go off-script. Depending on the customer’s mood, the best course of action can change.

Organize fun activities where your sales team has to think on their feet. You can gamify this experience by setting up quick-fire quizzes or buzzer rounds.

• Communication

Always be crystal clear. Your sales team must know exactly what they’re selling and convey the information to the client without being vague. Additionally, share this information in a cheerful mood. You can have briefs on good phrases and strategies to use.

• Information

If a client has questions, they will ask your sales team. Therefore, they need to know what the product is and be informed of all the relevant details. If they don’t have the necessary knowledge, your customers certainly won’t be comfortable making purchases from them.

However, this doesn’t mean every sales rep has to memorize every bit of information. Instead, ensure that your team has easy access to information. You can set up a user-friendly interface with product information and details. This way, your team will always have the data needed to make sales.

Real-time information about your business is also helpful. Companies like Callingly manage lead responses and update sales reps within seconds, which is essential for optimization.

• Resilience

Is the customer always right? Some are, and some aren’t. However, a sales rep must always put the customer first. Even when they are a bit irritating, sales reps need to push through and deal with the customer.

Developing a thick skin is essential to improving customer service skills and can only come with experience.

Interacting with customers

Having the skills outlined above is essential. However, the sales team also need to use them when working with customers.

Firstly, always personalize the relationship. If the customer feels as though they are talking to a cold and distant sales rep, they won’t feel comfortable or secure. Therefore, always speak to the customer as if they are your friend and find common ground.

Being overly informal can be a turn-off, though. So it’s essential sales reps maintain the right balance between formal and casual.

Secondly, listen to the customer and don’t talk over them. Make an effort to listen to their concerns actively and empathize. For instance, use statements such as “I can understand why this must have upset you.”

Thirdly, follow up immediately. As soon as a client launches a complaint or concern, look into it, and give them updates. You can call back, send an email, or message them. You’re on their side, and they should know.

Mechanistic recommendations

The chain

More often than not, a sales team is a big group with different subgroups within it. And customers interact with each of them. When improving your sales team’s customer service skills, you need to go through each one. Start with the first subgroup a new customer will interact with and move through the chain.

A bad experience at any point during this chain can impact your sales. Therefore, check-in with all of them and make sure everyone is on the same page.

Feedback platform

Another great recommendation is setting up a feedback platform. This can be a survey, a form, or a helpline. Choose a method that suits you best and log customer concerns and other feedback. Not only does this help you keep track of complaints, but you can also keep an eye out for patterns and successes. If many people are concerned about one particular business aspect, you can address it and optimize your workplace.

Conclusion

Optimizing your sales team’s customer service skills is crucial to your business’ success. And now you know how to improve it. Start by introducing the basic customer skills to your workers through briefs, workshops, and gamified competitions.

Then equip them will the tools necessary to communicate with customers by setting up a database. And lastly, help them have positive interactions with clients. These steps will transform your sales team’s customer service skills and boost performance exponentially.

Furthermore, you should also check in with different groups a customer interacts with. A consistently strong chain is better than an inconsistent one. Additionally, give your customers a platform to voice their concerns.

There’s an art to approaching customers over the phone. As a sales person, you probably have strong communication skills, but it only takes one wrong sentence to put a customer off. There are a few tried and tested rules when it comes to sales call etiquette that help build goodwill and keep the customer engaged.

1. Is this a good time to talk?

Half the success of your pitch depends on if you’ve caught your prospect at a good time. If a client is in the middle of a discussion or walking into a meeting, they won’t want to hear your pitch.

As a sales professional, you have to resist the urge to unload your pitch as soon as you can get customers on the phone. You need to walk the fine line between selling and coming across as pushy. On occasion, this may mean having to call back or reschedule for later in the week.

2. Keep it brief

Part of the reason salespeople dread giving the customer a way out is the risk that the callback may never happen. To sidestep this problem, ask prospects for 30 seconds of their time, set a timer, and stick to this limit. Unless they’re in a huge rush, most prospects will agree to give you half a minute to make your point.

Your goal for these 30 seconds is to present your product, highlight how the client stands to benefit, and reel them in by scheduling a longer follow-up conversation. Try and draw them into a more extended conversation if they have questions but keep your initial statement under the promised time limit.

3. Confidence and clarity

You often see beginners getting flustered by their time constraints and rushing through their calls. That desperation to speak quickly and fit as much information into your short window as possible is a bad strategy. While you want to sound excited when you talk about your product, you never want to come across as flustered or rushed.

So, when you’re on a sales call, speak slowly and with confidence. Start with basic introductions and draw the customer in by encouraging them to ask questions. Dumping a lot of information on an unsuspecting client doesn’t help anyone. Your goal is to have a two-way discussion and answer any questions they have.

4. Filler words

It is bad etiquette to use filler words or sounds on a sales call. That means things like “Uhh, hmm, like” or any variation of those. There’s also nothing more annoying than a salesperson smacking their lips or chewing gum over the phone. Ask for feedback on fillers from a coworker or sales lead if you can’t identify them yourself.

5. Background noise

Offices are often busy spaces with people moving across the floor and making multiple calls. As such, it’s not unusual to hear background noise in a sales call. But this is extremely off-putting for potential customers. If you want to see an immediate increase in your success rate, take steps to minimize noise over the phone.

That can mean moving away from the central workspace or finding a quiet corner. It shows your customer that they aren’t just a number on a sheet and that you care about that specific call. It also makes it easier to understand your points and gives your sales pitch an impact.

6. Phone signal

Sales teams don’t make all their calls from the office. Often you’re fielding calls outside, whether in your car or on the street. In times like these, not only is background noise a problem, but you may also have a poor phone signal. There’s nothing that works against your sales pitch like a voice that’s flickering in and out.

Clients will quickly become frustrated and cut the call. Make sure you’re near a cell tower before making a call, especially if you’re on the highway. Starting a call with two bars is also a bad idea because a middle strength signal can quickly drop to zero.

7. Treat each call like it’s the one

As a salesperson, you have to treat every call like it’s your last and every voice mail like it’s the one that will get you a callback. It doesn’t matter whether you make 100 or 200 calls in a day. There will be times when you won’t get any callbacks for three or four days straight. But that should never push over in your calls.

A fundamental aspect of sales calls etiquette is presenting your pitch with enthusiasm and confidence. That’s easier said than done when you have to repeat it over and over again, but the moment you begin to sound tired or uninterested is the moment you guarantee no client is going to call you back.

8. Don’t use a script

Using a script for a call or a voicemail will, without fail, nine times out of ten, come across as disingenuous and unimpressive. As a salesperson, you need to sound like the authority on your product. Using a script makes it seem like you don’t know what you’re talking about. Having talking points is fine as long as you don’t start to sound rehearsed.

You have to look at things from the client’s perspective. A customer wants to buy a product from an expert who knows everything there is to know about the item and can speak freely. You need to convince your prospects to trust you, and using a script is not the way to go.

9. Research, research, research

The first rule of being on a sales team is never going in unprepared. You don’t want to be the salesperson who calls a prospect and asks them what kind of business they’re in. Before you ever make a call, find out what kind of business they run, who their clients are, what their budget is, and why they’re likely to be interested in the service you are offering.

Using this information in your initial pitch is a good way of hooking prospects. It lets them know that you did your research and are interested in their company. These facts are often easily available on the company’s social media accounts or through a quick Google search. It’s a small time commitment for a huge payoff.

10. Focus on the client

In the initial stages, you’ll want to focus on the client and what they want. After you highlight the benefits of your product, let the prospect talk about their goals and issues. Don’t start rattling off a list of features or statistics they have no interest in.

You spend valuable time and energy, establishing contact with a potential customer. Then you use your carefully scripted pitch that you’ve spent years perfecting. And the end result? A prospect ends the call suddenly and unexpectedly.

If this sounds like a situation you find yourself in, you are not alone. There are countless reasons why people do this – some valid, some not. But whatever the reason, you do not need to be upset.

Situations like this can be confusing and even make you angry. After all, rude and uncalled for acts like this undermine the effort you put in as a sales rep. However, it is important to keep calm.

More often than not, you aren’t at fault because you’re not the reason they cut the call. And even in situations where you are at fault, the only way ahead is forward. Learn from the experience and become a better sales rep!

We’re going to go through four possible explanations for this unexpected behavior and then discuss what course of action you can take after it happens.

The customer is frustrated

This situation is one where you might be at fault. Think back to the conversation and play it back in your head. Were you overbearing? Or perhaps were you not answering questions very clearly? If, for any reason, the customer feels as though they aren’t being listened to, they will cut the call.

Fixing this issue is simple. Frame the conversation around the customer’s needs and not yours. Don’t make it about you because it isn’t. The customer always comes first.

The customer is afraid

It is human instinct to avoid confrontation. And the customers you are calling are no different. If they are not interested in the deal you’re presenting to them, they might just hang up instead of rejecting the offer.

Identifying such cases is easy. If someone is looking for ways to avoid saying no while trying so very hard to say it, you’ve got an afraid customer. If one of these people hang up, don’t take it personally because it isn’t about you or your manner.

The customer is negotiating

Another human instinct is making grand displays of power or authority. These types of people are the exact opposite of the afraid kind. And they will show you that they are better than you and your deal.

When you’re negotiating and reach a point where you and the customer are at odds, they might just hang up. In all likelihood, this is going to be the point at which you’re discussing the price. The purpose is to show you that they are more than willing to walk away from the deal. And they hope that you will call back with a better offer.

The most important part of a hang-up like this one is that the ball is in your court. You can decide if you want to negotiate further. Perhaps you would like a return on the investment you put in terms of time and energy. However, you can also choose not to call back. It is completely up to you.

The customer is clumsy

The last type of customers just hangs up by accident. They could have pressed a button they didn’t mean to, step into an elevator or basement, or had their phone’s battery die.

It can be difficult to give a prospect the benefit of the doubt. However, sometimes it is better to think they didn’t mean to cut the call rather than constantly worrying about what happened. And anyway, it isn’t an outrageous idea if you really think about it.

What to do next?

Firstly, just relax and take a breath. Over the course of your job as a sales rep, you’ll likely have a lot of people hang up on you. If you haven’t had an experience like this, you’re either new to the job or not working hard enough.

Then, call back. Perhaps the customer wants to talk to you. They could be confused or stressed. And all they need is an extra nudge. The worst that can happen is they won’t pick up. If that happens, you can just move on to the next customer.

Another great idea is following up via email. This way, they can review the situation at a later time if they had to cut the call because they were busy. Additionally, this helps customers who are confused and unsure of how they want to proceed.

Adding in a line or two about how you’re willing to continue the conversation on this medium can assist underconfident but qualified prospects.

However, if the prospect is a dead end, just move on. Pick up the phone, dial the next number, and give your pitch again. The more calls you make, the more likely you are to meet success.

Conclusion

As a sales rep, your job is reliant on working with people. And working with people is more stressful than one thinks. It comes with unique challenges that other jobs never have to deal with.

One of the biggest struggles you will face is unexpected human tendencies. Things like cutting calls in the middle of negotiating a deal or refusing to engage with you. And learning to adapt and deal with such situations is half your job.

From communication gaps to foolish displays of authority to unintentionally cutting off, there are countless reasons for prospects hanging up on you. And no matter what the reason is, you can’t let it upset you.

If a prospect decides to hang up on you, it’s their loss, really. Keep your head high and make the next call. Then make the next and the one after that. Don’t stop going because of one rude individual, especially when it could have simply been a mistake.

Sometimes other people’s actions can have a profound impact on us, but it is crucial that you don’t let people hanging up on you get to you. There are four different explanations and the ones that are most likely have nothing to do with you.

Are you a sales rep unsure of where you stand? Do you want to make a successful funnel but just aren’t sure how? Because if so, we can help.

Being a sales rep can be quite stressful. This is especially true when you want to do a good job but are unable to track your success. It is one of the few jobs where you can’t know exactly where your competition stands and how you compare. Getting those numbers is next to impossible, so it’s common to be in the dark about your progress.

A sales rep’s job is based on research and knowledge and using it to optimize your funnel in the best way. So, not having accurate numbers can be tedious. However, there is a solution.

While there are no exact statistics, there is a general bottom line that you should be reaching. Each step of the funnel has goals, and if you can reach them, you’re good to go. Let’s get into it.

What to look for when cold emailing

To put it simply, you need to keep a tab on three things. These are:

1. Open rate
2. Response rate
3. Conversion rate

The open rate is straightforward. It’s how many people open your email. On the other hand, the response rate counts the people who respond to your email. And lastly, conversion rate measures the people who follow your instructions. The instructions can be anything from subscribing to a newsletter to buying a product.

If you can’t measure and track all three, there is a huge problem with your funnel. Before anything else, you will need to set up a working model that tracks the three metrics. This is important because you can’t fix a problem unless you know it exists.

After setting up a tracker, you can work towards meeting the following goals.

Open Rate – 30%

Your opening rate needs to be at least 30%. Anything below will make the rest of your sales pitch super challenging. If you’re not meeting this target, you can improve it. Work on your email subject, send them out at different times and try optimizing your audience. Each of these actions can help you get more people to open your email.

Response Rate – 50%

You don’t just need people to open your email; you also need them to respond. This interaction is necessary to get potential customers interested in your product. And that is the first step to making a sale. Ideally, you want to hit 50%.

If you’re below 30%, there is something fundamentally wrong with your email’s body. And no matter how much your outreach increases, this issue will persist. In such a situation, you’ll need to deal with the issue head-on. And one of the easiest ways to do so is by analyzing your pitch. Is it short and sweet, or is it long and tedious?

But if that isn’t the issue, look into the audience and if you’re reaching out to your target audience. Also, make sure the message is clear. The reader should know what the next step is.

Conversion Rate – 50%

At this point, you want to make sure you are only dealing with interested customers. And at a minimum, 50% of them should be making purchases. If you’re going above this number, great job! However, if you’re falling short, you need to make changes.

What to look for in cold calling

But beyond these three basic rates, you also need to look at the following:

1. Reach rate
2. Qualify rate
3. Conversion rate

Reach rate defines the number of times you reach your target audience. Qualify rate is the number of people that qualify once you speak to them. And conversion rate counts the number of leads that take the action you want them to.

It’s essential that you have the capability to track all three.

Reach rate – 30%

When cold calling, you should reach at least 30% of the people you call. An inability to do so means your campaign is a failure and needs significant restructuring. Ideally, you should see a number close to 40-50%. This is an essential part of the funnel, and without it, you have nothing. Therefore, getting this number as high as possible should be a priority.

Qualify rate: 50%

Among the people you reach, at least 50% should qualify. While this may sound like a big target, it shouldn’t be an issue if you do your research right. If you aren’t meeting this goal, you’ll be wasting time, money, and energy.

Conversion rate – 50%

If you’re doing the work right, at least half the people who qualify will do whatever it is you’re asking them to do. If you’re unable to do so, there are quite a few ways to improve. Starting with your pitch to the research you do before calling potential customers, there are numerous ways to boost your conversion rate.

Important pointers

Meeting the three benchmarks for cold calling and cold emailing is just the start, though. Every business is different, and so has different needs. This means there isn’t a perfect formula. However, these benchmarks are great starting points and work for most businesses.

It is important to note that they are minimum percentages. And if you are hitting them, it isn’t a cause for celebration. Instead, it just means you’re doing the funnel right. Always try to go above and beyond these numbers.

On the other hand, if you aren’t hitting them, you might need to rebuild your funnel. In cases where you’re only slightly off, focus on slowly growing and improving your numbers. Only rebuild if you’re wildly off target.

Conclusion

Sales are one of those departments where there is always room for improvement. You’re never achieving your full potential, and any sales teams that are satisfied are mediocre. Great sales teams will constantly look for ways to improve and grow. If you’re hitting 50%, that’s great! But if you stop working as soon as you do, you’ll never be the best. And your competition will take your spot. So, work hard and reach for the stars!